Lap Blanket Crafts
A lap blanket is a wonderful thing to keep around the house for all the times you get cold when you are watching TV or enjoying a book. You can make a lap blanket more personal by creating your own or by decorating a fleece throw with some inexpensive supplies from the craft store.
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No-Sew Fleece Blanket
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Take two pieces of 2-yard long fleece fabric that are the same width; you will need to check the spool of fleece for the width of the fabric. The two pieces of fleece can be the same or they can simply coordinate. Cut the rough edges off both pieces of fleece, this rough edge is known as the salvage edge. Place your two pieces of fleece together with the wrong sides of the fleece facing each other. (Some fleece fabrics don't necessarily have a wrong or right side, it only matters if it is obvious.) Cut a 4-inch by 4-inch square from each corner of the two pieces of fleece. At 1-inch intervals, cut 4 inches into the fleece from the edge to create a fringe along all the edges. Tie the strips from one fabric to the strips of the other to hold the two pieces of fleece together. Do this all the way around the two pieces of fleece.
Decorated Fleece Throw
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Purchase an inexpensive fleece throw. You can usually find them on sale after Christmas. Take fabric that coordinates with the color of your fleece throw, and iron fusible webbing, such as Steam-A-Seam, to the back of the fabric. Cut shapes, letters or numbers that you want to use to decorate your fleece throw from the fabric. Place your fabric shapes on your fleece throw where you want them to be, then use an iron to adhere them to the throw. You can also use fabric paint to decorate a fleece throw for an easier and less expensive alternative to fabric. Add any embellishments, such as rhinestones, buttons, or ribbon to the fleece throw to make it even more personal.
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Chenille-Backed Lap Blanket
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Take a 36-inch by-36-inch piece of chenille and a piece of flannel fabric with the same dimensions. Place the two pieces of fabric together with the right sides of the fabric facing each other. Pin the two pieces of fabric together to hold them in place while you sew. Sew around the edges of the two pieces of fabric with a 1/2-inch seam allowance, starting near the center of one side, and stopping once you are 8 inches away from where you started. Trim the seam allowance at the corners without cutting the seam. Turn the whole construction right side out through the 8-inch hole. Press along the edges of the blanket with an iron to flatten the seam. Fold the fabric toward the inside of the blanket 1/2 inch where you left the 8-inch hole, so that the folded edges of the fabric line up with the rest of the sewn edge of the fabric. Pin the folded fabric in place with straight pins. Sew around the whole outside of the fabric 1/4 inch from the edge to add a decorative touch as well as to sew the 8-inch hole closed. You can use a decorative stitch, such as a zig-zag stitch for this step, or you can use a regular straight stitch. Test your stitch on a few scraps of the same fabric you are using for the project if you are going to use a different stitch.
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