For a friend's baby shower, I made her this minky and flannel blanket. The nice thing about making stuff like this is first of all it's pretty easy, and second of all it saves a lot of money.
I made this by simply turning and topstitching. For those who don't know what that means, this is how it works:
- Cut two pieces of fabric to the same size
- Place them inside out against each other-- meaning the "good" sides are touching each other and the back sides are facing out
- Pin around the edges and then sew around the edges leaving a small opening for turning it right side out
- Turn right side out
- Sew along the outside again to make a nice edge, making extra sure to catch the edges that were left open when turning it
Then you're done!
There are a lot of different things some people do for each step-- like some people press the fabric after turning it right side out (I only do this with cotton) and some people pin after turning right side out (I only do this with really shifty fabric like satin) but the general concept remains the same for any of it. This technique can be used for so any different things, from blankies to fabric "high chairs." If anyone wants better instructions than this I found this link for you at Prudent Baby
A blanket like this can cost easily $40 with nice fabric if you bought it from a boutique, but you can make it for the cost of only 2 yards of fabric (of course the price varies depending on what fabric what you choose)
Besides the money savings, and complete control over the fabric selection, I also love that it is a simple enough project that little "helpers" can't do too much harm. Lorelei spent as much time as she could petting the minky while I was sewing this, which is the main reason I didn't pin this blanket when top stitching it-- didn't want my helper to get an owie.
