My son had a play tent shaped like a rectangular tunnel. Over time, the plastic tubes got bent. I unstitched the panels to upcycle them. This week I made three play mats or wall hangings.

For the batting, I had a sleeping bag with a broken zipper so I took it apart. I did not realize how much beautiful batting you can recover from a sleeping bag! It was very soft and a nice weight for this project.

One challenge of this project is that the fabric is a synthetic type that you might find on shopping bags. It melts if you iron it for very long. Since it was “stiffer” than most fabrics I use, it took some experimentation to get the quilting to work.

I hope this inspires you to upcycle any broken play tents or sleeping bags that are no longer usable!