Two and a half years ago I went to a baby shower for my husband's cousin. At the baby shower she got the cutest blanket. It had these little fringe things all the way around, and as I asked to look at it closer, I thought to myself, "I could do that!" (My mother is a seamstress and I have a high opinion of the fact that I know a little bit. Enough to get myself into trouble and have to call my mom.)
Needless to say, I quickly went to the store and bought myself some fabric. I was pregnant at the time with my first son and thought that the blanket sizes they sell in the stores actually work. So I bought 1 yard of each flannel I liked and went home a happy girl.
Then I gave birth. To a normal sized little boy (8lbs 1oz, 21 in). Who quickly grew to the 90%. He's still in the 90%. When swaddling babies store blankets don't work. And if they do, someone tell me what I did wrong that my kid always found a way to get out of them and then scream bloody murder because they weren't swaddled anymore...
So... the fabric for the blankets that I hadn't gotten around to suddenly looked small. But I still wanted them! So I went back to the fabric store! I got 1.5 yards of fabric this time! (I thought I was really smart...) And 1 whole blanket got made! Out of 7! The rest... nope... they never got made.
So now baby number two gets to have a new set of blankets! The big ones... and I made the other set of three to give away as gifts to moms that I know will have smaller boys than mine.
First start off with your fabric. You will want 2 pieces (top and bottom) of coordinating fabric of 1 yard each or 1.5 depending on if you have big babies or not. Some will say to pre-wash. I don't. I'm sure someone out there is cringing. Have the fabric placed right sides out! Match up the top and bottom pieces and pin around the edges and in the middle to keep the fabric in place while you sew. (Some don't pin... but I'm not that good so I pin.)
After pinning it's off to the sewing machine. My (piece of crap) sewing machine died. So I borrowed my mom's. It's much nicer than mine, but all you really need is a straight stitch. I chose this one, thinking in my head it would be nice and durable. It's the one with 3 dashes next to each other. I'm probably overkill here. I'm sure just the single straight line would be fine.
I went in about an inch to an inch and a half all the way around the edges.
More accomplished seamstresses will also sew in the middle of the blanket so it doesn't shift. If you care about this, go for it. I don't.
After sewing around the edges you take your scissors and go around the edges cutting up to your sewing line. (Making fringe.) As a caution at this point I would recommend doing this at a table otherwise you're bound to cut into your favorite pair of sweats and cry a little.
The next step is to throw them into the washing machine and watch the fringe fly! You will want to be prepared with those rolly-tape-pick-up-lint things, or a good amount of boxing tape to take away all the extra frayed pieces that come off. You'll also have to vacuum. Just warning you.
They will continue to fray for the first few washes until they are done with the fraying part, but I can't tell you how much I seriously love these blankets. They are a great weight for summer nights and into the fall. When your kid is in a thicker jammy set up they do great in the winter too. You can throw them down just about anywhere and for some reason the kids love the fringe! Both my boys are really tactile, and will play in my hair... the fringe works the same way. So... yay! I'm done with a project I've had for 2.5 years. Better late...
On a complete side note. This is what I came downstairs to after my shower this morning. He got into them all by himself. The look is saying... maybe if I don't acknowledge that I did something wrong I won't be in trouble... That is also the much loved fringe blanket that I made next to him. :)
Go be!
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