Saturday, January 1, 2011

No-Sew Blanket

This year for Christmas, my fabulous future mother-in-law made me a fleece blanket. It is super warm and cozy. I knew she made it by hand and therefore immediately wanted to know how she did it. It's called a "No-Sew Blanket."

The blanket became an instant hit with my Grammy, who is always cold. I knew once we put the Christmas fleece away, there would be problems. Grammy loves pink, I love pink. Naturally, I was going to make some type of pink blanket and surprise her.

Grammy, the blanket hog.
But isn't she adorable?

I trucked myself to JoAnne Fabrics yesterday in search of a good sale. Is it just me, or does JoAnne always have a great deal?  I needed two pieces of fleece, both measuring about 60 X 72 inches. 

Anyways, most of the pink fleeces are really for babies. I was having a hard time finding "grown up pink." So I settled on these two colors. I got a great deal too. Both pieces for 18 bucks.

Supplies.

I also had to purchase new scissors since I can't find my good fabric scissors anywhere. I looked at the label and saw this:

REALLY?

Really people? CUT TAB TO OPEN? What if this was the first pair of scissors I owned? I'd be screwed. Scissors to open scissors? Give me a break!

Moving on. Step One is to lay the fabric out on a large surface. I chose the tile floor near the great room. And yes, I swept.

So excited!

See that ugly white border? That's step 2. Cut it off.

Chop Chop.

Step 3. Lay both pieces of fleece together and trim the excess. I learned that this step doesn't have to be super specific. The material will stay in the shape of a rectangle even if you go an inch or so off course.

Cut those overlaps off.

Step 4. Cut at 4 inch square out of each corner.


Step 5: Now comes the fun part, going around the perimeter of the blanket, cut "tabs" in one inch increments.


And keep going...


All the way around.


Then I tied a knot in the middle of each row so I would establish a base line and not get myself off track.

Knotty.

Now at this point, you have to tie a double knot in each one of the two "tabs" which will tie the two pieces of fleece together.

Fair warning...I thought this part would take me 5 mins. 40 minutes later, I was still tying double knots. No matter, I sat with DF and we watched "Terminator Salvation" OnDemand as I knotted.

The finished product turned out way cuter than I even thought. Sneak a peek:

Done!

And even better, I think the edges are super darling and look like confetti:

Adorbs.

I know Gram will love it. And you know, in the 80 degree Florida heat, who doesn't need a fleece blanket? 

Anyone else want one? I'm taking orders :)

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