Advanced parents have gone today! Everyone (somewhere deep down inside) is sure that he has produced a real indigo child and is trying in every possible way to obtain confirmation of this fact. So their parents begin to develop their children practically from the diaper. But even if indigo children are just a pseudoscientific theory, everyone knows for sure that every mother has the best (smart, beautiful, smart and talented) child. And mummies, and along with them daddies, grandmothers and grandfathers selflessly give themselves to the process of developing education. One of the most popular tools for such education was the developing mat. Stores of children's goods I offer them for every taste and at different prices. However, many young parents are not satisfied with either the quality of the product or its price. And sometimes they just can not find exactly what they consider necessary for their baby. Therefore, mothers have no choice but to sew a developing mat for a child with their own hands or order it to a more skilled and freer grandmother or girlfriend. Meanwhile, the rugs are also different and designed for kids of different ages. We suggest you learn about varieties of this popular tool and how to sew a rug by yourself. 
What are the developing mats for children
The most "early" models of rugs are designed forchildren from three months to a year. This is the age when the child can not yet move independently, but already shows an active interest in the surrounding space. He carefully examines all nearby objects, tries to reach them with his little hands and taste everything that he can grasp. Before the appearance of developing mats, the child's attention was attracted by the rattles with which he was willing to play, stretched over the cot or stroller. Actually it was such rattles that formed the basis of modern developing mats. The ideas for creating this newfangled "tool" simply lay on the surface. Therefore, it only remained to improve the principle itself and to clothe it in a "modern" form. That was done by the Israeli company Tiny Love about fifteen years ago. Such mats, as a rule, in addition to bright colors and sewn to them interesting details-toys are equipped with arch arches. On the arc, too, toys are suspended, to which the kid can reach out with his hands or just look at them, lying on his back. Models of rugs for children older than a year are somewhat different. Such rugs are already hung on the wall near the crib or on the back of the bed itself. At this age, the kids begin to walk confidently and can more consciously handle this toy: finger and pull various things, put on a mat or remove removable items. For children from one and a half to three or four years, the rugs make the plot. This is already a kind of scene (as in the puppet theater), where the kids organize fabulous performances and story games. In addition to exciting games, these mats are also designed to teach the basics of arithmetic and the development of logical thinking. That is, in addition to the game elements are also equipped with training elements. So if you are going to sew the rug yourself, then, believe me, you can make it much more interesting and versatile than the purchased models. It is important only to skillfully implement all the ideas that have visited you in practice. Well, of course, you need to try to sew the mat neat, beautiful and durable (the latter is especially important). 
Ideas for making a rug
Look for ideas just by looking around. For the earliest rug, use not only "contemplative" elements, but also opportunities for the development of fine motor skills. Useful for this purpose games - unbuttoning buttons and lightning, untying laces and bows, attaching (and "detaching") parts on Velcro and buttons. For a child from one year to two years old, make a rug with the necessary removable elements, which the baby will use consciously. You can come up with a lake or rivers with fish, which the crumb will "catch" from the water. You can put on the rug a train or a machine in which rabbits, bears or little men can "ride". You can invite the baby to collect "harvest" from trees and beds or put in a basket of mushrooms and flowers. To introduce the child to natural phenomena, place a sun on the rug, which can go beyond the cloud or clouds, from which it may rain or sprinkle snow. In addition, already at this age you need to start teaching the baby to distinguish colors or geometric shapes. Therefore, equip the mat with elements of different colors and different shapes: a round red ball, a round yellow sun, a green triangular roof on the house, blue rectangular trains in a train, and so on. Ideas for creating a developing mat for a child over two years are more diverse. Remember your favorite fairy tales of the kid and make a rug on motives of these fairy tales. Sew a rug for a boy on a pirate or sea theme, and for girls make a fabulous kitchen or dressing room. Here you can already give vent to fantasy and for role-playing games: go to visit, prepare dinner, treat animals. Such a rug must also contain more serious training elements: numbers and letters. Use for the developing mat not only colorful fabrics, but also textural elements: knitted, quilted, sewn from "rough" velveteen or drape. Voluminous details can be filled with cereal (buckwheat, rice, peas) and for the image of water use smooth silk gliding fabrics. It is advisable to use for the rug and all sorts of rustling elements: sewn into bags and paper. Reflective surfaces: a CD or foil will also be of interest to the toddler. Buttons can be used not only as a fastener, but also to make a path out of them or lay out pebbles on the shore. Well, as well as for the developing mat, you need circuitous applications and all kinds of pockets.
Preparation for sewing a developing mat for a child
First, pick up the fabric for the rug. Do not choose only one type of fabric, use not only an eco-friendly cotton print, but silk, flannel, felt, denim or even tarpaulin. Be sure to check all the selected fabrics for resistance to washing: they should not shed or "sit down". Better yet, just wash and iron all the fabrics beforehand. Accessories for the rug choose strong: the plastic should not crumble or break, the tree should be smooth and without burrs, zippers and buttons without sharp edges. Be sure to consider the plot of the rug and make a sketch. Best of all, if the "picture" is multifaceted: nature, city, transport, home - in short, everything that surrounds the child in reality. For a rug, you will certainly need additional accessories that can be turned into toys or make details of a rug. So look for and prepare large beads, small soft toys, rattles, old unnecessary belts, ribbons, ties and laces, boxes and other small things.
Sew developing mat for babies
And now directly the process of making. For the base, we cut out the part from the dense takna. Traditionally it is a rectangle or a square, but you can make the base a round or triangular. If you are going to make a rug with arcs, then you need to prepare and a frame of thick wire. The lower part of the frame will be inserted along the perimeter of the base, and the arcs will "fly off" over the rug. For a rug with a frame, sew a quilted base, filling it with a sintepon or foam rubber and leaving flat edges to be fixed on the wire. Cut out the details for wrapping the arcs. Arc, too, wrap the sintepon and cover with a cloth (you can manually). Then fold the wire for the bottom of the frame in the shape and size of the base: a rectangle, a square, a circle. Connect and fasten the ends of the wire and wrap it with sintepon. Connect the arcs to the bottom of the frame and secure them securely. Cross the crosshairs with a wire or tie with a rope or cord. And now lay the fabric base on the bottom of the carcass and, wrapping the wire with the flat edges, firmly sew the base to the wire frame. By the way, for a more stable frame its lower part can be made from plywood or a sheet of fiberboard, and already to it to attach arcs. For this variant of the carcass make the basis of the rug a removable - like a mattress on the fasteners. To the base, sew volume and texture elements, hang toys and rattles to the arches.
Sew a wall mat
For such a rug, too, you first need to sewThe basis for which you also need to choose a dense fabric. The basis can also be made of two kinds of fabric. More dense (for example, jeans) to put on the wrong side, and from a soft and bright fabric (chintz, flannel) to sew the front part of the rug. Process the edges and proceed to implement the sketch you invented. Cut out details of appliqués and pockets from multi-colored pieces of fabric. Make patterns of removable parts. Applications to begin with, attach to the rug and sweep. If everything suits you, attach the applications to the base. Do it best by zigzagging. And you can glue it with glue cloth and iron. Only in this case, the edges of the appliqués must first be swept or hemmed. Attach the cut pockets, Velcro for removable parts and other items that need to be sewn to the mat. Now take care of the removable elements of the rug: figures, letters, numbers. Make patterns and make bulk details, which fill with the same sintepon (for rustling - cellophane or paper). Sew to the rug mat (rings, ties) and can represent your creation to the kid. Surely he will be satisfied! You will get no less pleasure when you see with what interest the crumb plays a gifted toy. The development of the child is of course important, but more important for him is maternal love. But the fact that you made for your baby, made with love and charged with a special energy. And what can be stronger and more important than love? We advise you to read:
