How to Make a Silky Baby Blanket
Most babies have one particular blanket that they love and hold dear. If you look at baby blankets in stores, most of them are soft and fleecy on one side and silky on the other with a satin trim. These blankets are surprisingly easy to make and can be constructed in about an hour. Make them for shower gifts, to have extras around the house or as a replacement for your child's favorite blanket. Instead of buying a blanket, make one that has all the coziness a baby needs.
Things You'll Need
- Washing machine
- Dryer
- Fleece fabric, one yard
- Poly-satin fabric, one yard
- Scissors
- Straight pins
- Sewing machine
- Pinking shears
- Satin blanket binding
- Iron
Instructions
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1
Wash the uncut fabric on a regular wash cycle. Dry on a normal cycle. This will preshrink the fabric pieces.
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2
Cut your fabric to the desired lengths, using an existing blanket as a pattern.
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3
Place the fleece and the poly-satin with the wrong sides facing inward on a flat surface and pin the two fabrics together all the way around.
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4
Sew a seam one inch from the edges using a sewing machine set on a straight stitch, removing the pins as you go.
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5
Cut the raw edges 1/2 inch from the seam using pinking shears.
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6
Open the package of satin blanket binding. Unroll the binding and, leaving it folded in half, iron it. Note that, when it is folded in half, one side of the binding is just a bit shorter than the other. In other words, when folded in half the binding in not even. Keep the shorter side on top of everything as you sew. You will have a stack of fabric that begins with the binding, then the fleece, the poly-satin and finally the other half of the binding. Sewing with the shorter side of the binding on top of the pile will ensure that the bottom side is sewn at the same time.
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Open one end of the binding and lay it right side facing down. Fold the end of the binding in 1 inch and iron to keep in place. Re-fold the binding along the original crease and iron again.
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Insert the corner of the blanket into the corner of the fold that was just created on the end of the binding and pin it in place. Tuck the raw edge of the blanket into the binding so that the edge is in the center fold. Pin down the length of the blanket to the corner.
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Use the sewing machine, set to a zigzag stitch, to sew the binding in place until you are one inch from the corner.
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10
Place the blanket on a flat surface with the edge that was just sewn facing upward. Looking at the blanket you will see a layer of binding, the blanket and the top layer of binding. Open the top layer of binding to reveal the corner of the blanket and fold the binding at a right angle to turn the corner. Tuck the bottom layer of binding under the blanket corner. Then, fold the binding along the center crease and tuck the blanket edge into the crease.
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Pin the binding to the blanket along the next side and sew the binding in place, removing the pins as you sew. Make sure to sew along the diagonal that was created in the binding at the corner. Repeat the process for folding at the corner to turn the binding and continue along the next edge. Repeat until you reach about 6 inches from the first corner, where you originally attached the binding to the blanket.
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12
Measure the binding to 1 inch past the first corner and cut the excess binding. Open the binding and fold the extra inch inwards to hide the raw edges. Use the iron to make a crease. Open the binding, keeping it folded where it was just ironed and fold the top outer corners to the center line as though you are making a paper airplane. Use the iron to set the crease.
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Insert the beginning corner into the angled folds and pin in place. Use the sewing machine to stitch the last corner down.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit David De Lossy/Photodisc/Getty Images
