Welcome to our second blog post!
Today we will be getting ready to sew our first blanket. In the previous blog, we talked about some of the fabrics suggested as well as suggested blanket sizes.
As a refresher here they are.
Suggested fabrics:
Flannel
Denim
Towels
Polyester/cotton
T-shirts
Fleece
Suggested blanket sizes for animals:
Extra small animal blanket: 12" X 18"
Small-medium animal blanket: 18" X 24"
Medium-large animal blanket: 24" X 30"
Large animal blanket: 36" X 40"
Let's start with cutting out your material.
If you have large pieces of material you can just cut it to the blanket size for an easy blanket without much sewing needed. Just make sure the fabric is on grain and cut it about an inch larger than the chosen blanket size for your top and bottom layer, then get ready for assembly.
If you are upcycling for your materials there are a few things you can use.
Jeans are great for some durable blankets (and some dog toys!)
First, you have to harvest your material so you have a nice flat surface to work with.
You can do this by cutting along the seam lines. Then you cut around the pockets and waistband seams to cut those right off. Open up your pant legs. Now you have a flat surface with one layer of material to cut your blanket pieces out of. Take a look at the video below for more of a visual.
T-shirts, fleece jackets, flannel shirts, etc are the same idea! You cut along the seam lines on the side and sleeves, then cut off the neckline. T-shirt sleeves are a bit small so you can cut those off and get rid of them, depending on your blanket design.
What is an easy blanket design for beginners?
The easiest blanket is a small blanket using whole cut pieces. I recommend this for the smaller-size blankets only unless you plan on stitching down through the middle of the blanket to keep the fabric from separating and bubbling
Here is your step-by-step procedure
Cut your fabric pieces a little bit bigger than the size of the blanket you would like. We have a piece of upholstery fabric and an old towel here to make a nice durable blanket.
Put your fabric pieces right sides together and sew around all sides leaving about a 4" gap on one side (big enough to fit your hand through). Since we are working with a thicker towel and material we are using quilting clips to hold it all together, as well as a size 14 universal needle to help avoid skipped stitches. Some sewing machines are not big fans of thicker seams and materials. If you have one of these machines and wanted to put a towel on the bottom of your blanket maybe use a thinner beach towel to help reduce bulk.
Trim your seams down to reduce some bulk, mainly around the corners, and turn the blanket right side out pushing the corners out. If you would like you can also iron the seams flat making sure the bottom layer isn't curling up to the top. Find your open gap and tuck the raw edges in to line up with the sewn edge and pin/clip in place. Top stitch around the edge of your blanket closing the open seam.
And then you're done! Easy peasy. If you want you can add some decorative stitches or machine embroidery to personalize it a bit more.
Take a look at the video below for a quick video tutorial
The machine in this video is the Brother NQ700, one of our most popular models for beginner quilters!
Here are a few other ideas for simple blankets.
Don't worry, if you are a beginner and need some help we will be putting out instructions on how to make these types of blankets as well!
Rag quilts
crazy quilts
simple quilt patterns
t-shirt blanket
Serged flatlock blanket
For those who like a bit more of a challenge, or like to add a bit of extra embellishment and go a bit extra we have plenty to show you!! Stay tuned for more!
As a thank-you for reading our blog, until November 25th Quilting clips featured in this video will be on sale for 25% OFF! We will have them featured behind our till until the sale ends.
Happy Sewing!
In our next post on November 25th, we will be making some simple blankets using your serger!