Sunday, January 24, 2010

Blanket Tutorial

This is a photo of a baby-sized blanket I made today. It cost me $5.39 and was seriously easy to make. Before I get into the tutorial, I wanted to share a little information regarding the fleece I used. Unfortunately, my efforts to obtain some polartec 100 discounts online did not go well. Apparently, many people ask for discounts and they cannot give them to everyone. The polartec was expensive to order online - approx. $10/yrd. and then $8.00 shipping. So...off I went to Joann which worked out quite well because Joann just so happens to be having a 40% off fleece sale this week until January 30th! Yipee!! I made this blanket with one yard of no pill polar fleece - 100% polyester. (Not the blizzard kind). I was told that most of the fleece at Joann is the weight I purchased to make this blanket. It looks and feels like the weight of an airline blanket. Thinner and lighter weight. As my friend Tracy said, not Minnesota fleece! This solid color, no pill fleece was originally $8.99/yrd. and was discounted to $5.39/yrd. My mother went to her Joann in RI and found fleece in the remnant section. She made two blankets for $5.00! I hope this bit of purchasing information is helpful. There is no need to break the bank to send some love to Haiti. Now on to the tutorial...

First, I trimmed the edges of my yard of fleece so that the edges were straight and even. Next, I folded the edges over twice to hide the raw edge which created a 1" hem. I pinned as I folded like this...
My mother is an excellent sewer and told me she did not pin - just folded as she sewed. I wanted to be more careful as I did not think I could much tolerate having to rip things out today so I took the time to pin. Whichever way is best for you is what you should do. Also, the hem can be a different size if you prefer. This tutorial is merely meant to be a general guideline.
Next, I set my sewing machine on the widest zig zag setting (11 on my machine).

Then I simply sewed the folded edge around the blanket. The wide zig zag stitch gives a nice finished edge - almost serger like (Thanks for the advice, Mom). Of course, if you have a serger, this would be the way to go.

I then just cut a heart out of a red piece of fleece, and sewed it onto the blanket using the same zig zag stitch. I did make sure to change the top thread to the color red.
Just a couple of tips...because fleece stretches, it is best to use a long stitch on your machine. This gives less of an opportunity for puckering. Also, try to guide the fabric rather than pull it through the machine as you're sewing - this will also prevent puckering.
Of course, there are other ways that this blanket can be created. You can blanket stitch the edges, you can add a fabric edge, for example. Again, this is meant to be a guideline.
The dimensions of this baby blanket are 53"L x 33"W. (A crib size blanket is "46x33").
Guideline dimensions for a child sized blanket are 57"x48".
Guideline dimensions for a youth sized blanket are 60"x45".
And there you have it - easy peasy!
Please don't hesitate to add helpful comments/ideas to this tutorial. Also, questions are most welcome.
Enjoy!



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