I first saw this blanket at work, one of my patients in recovery had one. Poor little girl, I about attacked her (half asleep from anesthsia still) to examine and ask a million questions about it! I was so intrigued! My kids each have a "tie blanket", they call it their cozy. They love cuddling in them! When I saw this one, I wanted to make it for them right away! I thought it was really pretty and different. So off to Walmart to let the kids pick out their material. Now I thought it was going to be an easy and quick project but was I ever wrong! It takes time, patience and lots of wine! : )
Break Down:
Total Price: About $12
Total Time: 2 hours
Materials
~Fleece Material - I used three yards total but you use as much or little as you want. Just remember, you need double the size you want. You can use 2 different prints or solids too!- WalMart $4/yard
~Scissors
~A piece of card stock
~ Glass or two of wine!
1.
~ Lay out your material, one on top of the other. Cut around the edges to make sure they are even. Not perfect, just close.
~ Some tutorials on the tie blankets showed pinning the blankets together, all the way around. But I don't have the time or patiance! The material sticks together really well. I didn't have any problems.
2.
~ Depending on how long you want your strips, you need to cut a square out of your card stock using the same number. Example: My strips were about 2" long (1.5" wide) so I cut a 2" X 2" square out of card stock. ** Looking at tutorials that made the tie blankets, they cut 4" long strips so they cut out 4"X4" square. It's up to you. If you want, start with a small square, cut and thread a strip to see if you like the length (read the rest to know what the heck I'm talking about!!). You can always goes bigger if you want.
~ Cut out all 4 corners.
3.
~ Cut your strips all around your blanket.
4.
~ Now to cut the small holes. I might of done it the hard way but it worked. I folded up the material, both pieces together, long ways (see picture above). It was so I could make the holes parallel to the edge of the blanket.
5.
~ Now cut a very small hole about 1/2" below your strip. See above. The further away the hole is to the bottom of the strip, the bigger the edge will be (see 2 pictures below).
~ The smaller the hole the better but it does make it harder to thread the strips through. You will learn as you go.
6.
 |
~ Now take the strip and fold up and down through the hole. It can be hard when your holes are small so I used a chopstick to help push the material through.
7.
~This is what the edges look like when your done. They will get better looking with practice!!
Final Thoughts
This blanket definitely took practice. My daughter won't notice the crooked edges, mismatched strips or really messed up corners (before I learned the square trick). I made the strips so many different lengths and widths before I found what I liked. But it was fun to learn! I will do better on my boys blankets!
I have never seen this done before so I don't know what it's called. Therefore I will call it the "No Sew, Fold over Blanket"!
Please leave comments or ideas. I know this is out there somewhere. I did not make it up (I'm not that brilliant)!
Cheers!
