Chenille Baby Blanket
The sewing portion is relatively easy. Easy enough for a total beginner on the sewing machine to master at least. I only had my sewing machine maybe a less than a month before I took on this project. Simply put, you just cut all the fabric into the same matching sizes, and sew lines. It helped me, in order to keep the lines pretty much even apart, and straight. I used a washable fabric marker and marked out all my sewing lines. Since I could not for the life of me, sew in a straight line. Once you are done with all of your line sewing, you cut the fabric in-between each sewed line.
Here's a picture of before I put it through the washer and dryer. I was terrible at sewing on the binding. There are mess ups all over it, and it's not always the same width away from the edge, but I do say, it's not as bad as it could have been for my first time sewing on a blanket binding. Since it was my first time, that is why I chose a wider binding than what the tutorial suggested. It gave me room for mistakes. The little mistakes though, give it character I think. I know that when I look at it, I see all the tiny little mistakes and details, versus when someone else looks at it. They might not see all the mishaps that I do. | This part never seemed to end. I highly suggest buying the niffty little tool the original tutorial suggests to buy. I ended up with some nasty blisters on my hands from all the cutting. At this point, I got worried because when you moved the blanket around after it was cut up, the spaces between the fabric made it seem limp and not at all warm enough to be a blanket. I didn't see how when I washed it how it would fill out and become the soft chenille. But, I stayed the course and sewed the binding around the edges. |
Minky Baby Blankets
How I make the minky blankets:
First I cute the fabric 31"x36inches. I tend to make the minky fabric side a little bit bigger. The minky tends to stretch and move around a lot when you are sewing. I make it a little bit bigger so when I sew, I can clearing see the edge so I have no holes in my seams. I sew the fabrics together right sides facing each other. Leaving a small gap, I reverse the fabrics and sew a seam to double seam the blankets. I love to use the zig-zag stitch pattern. Gives it that cute little flare. Then I'm done! Bam! So easy. The blankets end up being a really generous size of 30"x35".
Patch-Work Baby Blanket
Again it was super difficult for me to come up with the perfect fabrics that fit well together. Projects for girls tend to be way easier than finding coordinating fabrics for a boys though. I ended up with 3 quilting fabrics, and two minky fabrics for the patch work. You can't see it in the picture, but I used my all time favorite soft and cuddly fabric for the backing.
I forget what the last dimensions of the blanket ended up being, but it was a lot bigger than the minky baby blankets I make. I love how this blanket turned out. This blanket I didn't follow a design or template, I just followed the image I had in my mind. It turned out very nice. Whenever I finish a project and it turns out fantastic, I have a hard time letting it go for some reason. But, I knew who I made it for would appreciate it.