Sunday, March 4, 2012

The No Sew, Fold Over Blanket!


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!

31 comments:

  1. I am going to try this on my next blanket that I make. Thank you for the post!!

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    1. You're welcome! Let me know if you have any questions once you start! : )

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    2. Oh my goodneess!! This is so cute. I plan on making one similar but it has the braided edges, this one looks like it would be super easy for my grand daughters to make. Thank you for this idea!!

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  3. Do the strips come out of the holes when you wash it?

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    1. No the strips have not come out. I probably don't wash it as much as I do her other blankets though.

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  4. Oh I love this! Thanks for this :)

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  5. Great idea, I cant wait to try this out for my sisters kids

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  6. Use a large crochet hook to pull the strips through the holes.

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  7. Nice Tutorial! We're adding this to our Kawartha Lakes Mums Crafty Fun Pinterest board

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  8. I have made a simulate version of this for my dogs, who also love it :)
    Rather than fiddly holes & pushing strips thru said holes, I just tied opposing strips together :)
    Your edges do look tidier, but I like the knot look as well and much less patience (of which I am short on) required ;)

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  9. Please excuse auto correct re *similar

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  10. Can you do this with just one piece if material ? Thank you

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    1. I found this link that shows one piece of frabric: http://pinkpolkadotcreations.com/crafts/fringed-fleece-blankets/

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  11. I am going to make this one now. I have made 4-5 of an other style and I think this one will be nice also. Thank you for posting it for everyone. I like it a lot

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  12. I really like this - thanks for sharing! It looks fantastic :)

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  13. I wonder if you could use this type of edge with the quilt pattern (several squares together). Has anyone tried?

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  14. I think I will start teaching my grandchildren, this is a good starter project, thank you

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  15. how are you joining together...lol...can someone post a picture further away so the view is not so zoomed in...my brain is not working and I'm confused. Or how about a short video of the mini cuts and putting the blankets together and is there another second slit...ahhh so confused! I just need to see it one time. haha

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    1. Hi Jennifer
      I made mine just by cutting strips all the way round then tying the opposing strips together, much less hassle than the holes, plus it was b4 I saw this. I have seen several videos of these being made in Utube - the way I did it - just search now sew dog blanket, in either Utube or on google and u will find plenty of tutorials and videos to choose from.
      Hope this helps.
      Good luck, it really isn't as difficult as it can look in pics

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  16. I got lost on the "up and Down". Does the bottom string come up and the top one go down? It looks like they are all facing the same direction.

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  17. Thanks for sharing. This would make an excellent item to gift to dialysis centers for their clients. We get so cold during our treatments that almost everyone uses multiple blankets, beanies, and some wear gloves.

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  18. I really like this, and the wavy edge I think you're talking about is charming, I'd prefer it! Thank you for a tutorial.

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  19. Hi, it really looks promising, and I really love the no sew part, but I cannot grasp the entire concept... maybe if I saw the photo of entire finished blanket? The last photo of the corner of the blanket looks really pretty, but still, can't imagine how the entire blanket is supposed to look at the end... but thanks for sharing! I'll be coming back here so maybe I will get it :)

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  20. A good tip for cutting the strips the proper length: Make a mark with permanent marker on your scissors at the length you want. No more making them too short or too long, and no marking on the fleece either!

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  21. Love the way it looks but can’t picture in my head how you do the corners. Can you explain that. Maybe I’m just being a little dense! Lol!

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    1. This is way later than you posted but for anyone else looking, you cut the corners out :) so you'll have a square cut out of each corner

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  22. I like to crochet blankets for a Dialysis Center and now I think I'll do some of these. Thank you for the idea!!!!!!

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  23. Me gustó mucho lo voy a intentar es primera vez que lo veo creo que eres la autora gracias por compartir tú idea

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