This summer, I was perusing Pinterest when I spotted an adorable DIY flannel blanket, http://pin.it/ofposaloltbmcs . Very strange that this popped up in the summer, since we are always in the upper 90’s or low 100’s once July and August hit. But anyway, this blanket appeared and after I read how to make it, I was sold! As soon as the plaid fall flannels hit the store, which in reality most likely mid-July, I was at the cutting counter telling the employee that I’d like one yard of the plaid, one yard of the solid deep blue and three separate 10 yard packages of small pom-poms (light blue, grey, peacock blue) on clearance, for the edging. That’s as far as I got with this project for about three months because school started, I became co-v.p. of the PTO, art mom in Little Red’s classroom, volunteer with the middle school PTO (because one PTO isn’t enough, ha) yada, yada, yada. Cue the mom jeans.
Okay! So fast forward to things settling down a bit. The plaid fabric was calling to me every time my eyes passed over it in my craft room. It was time for mama to whip up this cute and cozy blanket! Materials used were:
*1 yard fabric of a printed flannel (72X45)
*1 yard fabric of a solid flannel (72X45)
*sewing machine
*coordinating thread
*scissors
*pins
*6 1/2 yards of small pom-pom trim
*wooden spoon (to push the corners of the blanket out when flipped right side out)
Once the two pieces of the right side were on the inside and even, I pinned the edges of the side I was going to sew. I set my sewing machine to a wide zig-zag, then sewed each side leaving a 5/8″ seam, except for the very last 8″. I then trimmed each sewn corner to reduce the fabric bulk once it was turned right side out.
I turned the sewn fabric inside out so that the finished blanket side was now on the outside. This is where the handy, dandy wooden spoon makes its entrance. The end of the spoon handle was used to push out the edges of the blanket corners so that there weren’t built in mini pillows. This may sound like an awesome possibility but think mouse size. Yeah, no. With the open edges folded under, I then sewed the blanket closed. The stitching is visible on this last bit but where it’s a zig-zag, it looks cute. I think so, anyway.
When the decision was made as to what side to sew the pom-pom trim on, away I pressed down on the foot pedal. For ease and looks, I decided to fold the trim at the corners followed by sewing down the next length of blanket edge, making sure that the edge of the trim was peeking out along the edge of the blanket. At the corners, I couldn’t put the presser foot down due to the bulk of the fabric and trim. Once I rounded the corner though, I was able to put the presser foot down and sew on, completing the blanket.
I have to say, this is one of the easier sewing projects that I’ve done. Plus, it’s cute and warm! It’s aesthetically pleasing but unfortunately, loud to my ears. Why? Oh, because Little Lady, Little Red and Little Man now argue over who gets to use it. In fact, if part of this post makes you wonder if today was a Margarita stand day at the school drop off this morning (it actually wasn’t!) because I’ve left out vital info, it’s because in the background, my wee darlings were fighting over the new blanket (we honestly have three other blankets available to them in the living room) and a yoga mat. Yeah. You read that right. Good gravy.
*disclaimer-I tend to do projects using directions as a resource but tweaking things here & there to best suit me. Sorry if you just had a meltdown trying to sew this using my instructions. Ole’!
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