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Friday, August 31, 2012

How to Make Two Sided Baby Blankets

Mary Cassatt (1844-1926)

Hot off the press (ironing board, if you will) are three baby receiving blankets.  On each, one side is flannel and the other side is decorative cotton material.  Piping in contrasting fabrics is sandwiched between the sides.


These blankets are versatile.  They are large enough to use as a nursing cover, as extra warmth for a newborn, as a swaddling blanket, as an impromptu diaper changing area...or just maybe the baby will later want to use one as their very own Banky to wag around!  Hand sewn blankets can be much prettier than the ready made blankets available for purchase.  And who does not want something that you have personally made for a sweet new life?

The Knitmore Girls Podcast (click here for their blog link and be sure to listen to their podcast) raved about two sided baby blankets.  BTW, the Knitmores are a multi-generational knitting production with the youngest member of the troupe still in diapers.  And the new mama is ga-ga over these blankets.  So I decided to forge ahead and make up a few, along with a quick tutorial about how they were sewn.

HOW TO MAKE A TWO SIDED RECEIVING BLANKET

Materials: Each blanket requires one yard of flannel and one yard of a coordinating cotton fabric, along with matching thread.  Piping is optional, but adds a decorative touch.  A piping tutorial website is linked here showing how to make bias binding from fat quarters.  Ingenious!  Purchase medium sized cording for covering your bias tape if you make it yourself.  Get out your coordinating scrap materials or buy fat quarters to make bias binding for the piping.  And remember that a piping foot for your sewing machine makes things much easier.

(hand made bias seam binding that covers cording sandwiched between right sides of fabric, ready to be sewn as outlined in second step below)

Steps:

  • Trim pre-washed and machine dried pieces of one yard flannel material and one yard of a pretty coordinating 100% cotton decorative material into square of cloth the same size.  Press each piece of material to make it wrinkle free.  It is cotton, after all.  Put them together with right sides facing each other.  Then measure your fabrics and cut them (one on top of the other) to made all sides equal.  One of the blankets I made turned out to be 37" x 33" after both fabrics were squared up with one another and the selvaged edges removed.  (Receiving blankets are usually 34 inches or 36 inches square, but since you are making this blanket, you can approximate lengths and widths.)
  • Sew the optional piping using the tutorial above (four yards of it), or purchase piping (four yards per blanket), or leave off the piping altogether...sewer's choice.
  • Right sides of fabric together, sandwich the piping between the two fabric pieces, ensuring the piping edge is between the fabrics with the cording side to the left of the seam.  Sew around all four sides of the fabrics, leaving a 6 inch space free.  Turn to the outside. Smooth out the blanket and baste closed the six inch opening in the side, catching the piping between your basting area.  Close to the hand basted area, stitch "in the ditch" close to the piping, making sure to catch your basted areas with the machine stitching.
  • Press again.  You might want to go around one side of the piping with a machine stitch all the way around each side of the blanket to further flatten the fabrics together, but it is not necessary.
  • Sew your personalized tag onto the blanket to autograph your work.  (Thanks, Charlotte, for reminding me of those tags I bought back in the '70's!)



Such pretty and practical blankets for that new little one.  (Beatrix Potter would approve.)

19 comments:

  1. So sweet! I love wrapping newborns up, all snug and cozy. Your blankets are beautiful, Nancy.

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  2. Precious!!! Love that they are two-sided:) Have a blessed day, HUGS!

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  3. Delightful blankets - they would be lovely for a baby to lie on when playing with toys on the floor.

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  4. They are all wonderful, but I do love the bugs most of all.

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  5. How gorgeous are these, and so clever, useful and beautiful :D

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  6. Awww those are adorable!

    (I'd probably sew one to my pant leg while working on it)

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  7. This is a nice pattern Nancy. I`m going to make a couple of these blankets. Thanks for the tutorial!

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  8. Really cute. And thanks for the tutorial.

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  9. Dear Nancy
    Thank you so much for your comment on my blog.Popped over to visit and am loving exploring your posts. Love the blankets and those shawls.... dreamy! E x

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  10. Just to say thank you for becoming a follower - and I have reposted the link for you. Love your baby blankets - such a good idea!

    Pomona x

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  11. Thank you for the simple tutorial. Those are lovely DIY baby receiving blankets.

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  12. Question: Do you have to 'tack' the 2 pieces of fabric together like you would do a quilt to 'hold' them together or does the flannel not 'separate'. Thanks!

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  13. I always pin the fabrics, right sides together, with pins about 5-6 inches apart in order to keep the sides from going "wonky".

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    1. thanks for your reply but I don't think I was clear; I mean once the blanket is finished, do you need to tack it like a quilt is tacked/tied every so often to keep the pieces together - for ex my neighbor will make a quilt with batting between 2 pieces of fabric,then she will tie the 3 pieces together thruout to hold it together so the batting stays in place (I think). Do you need to do this with the double sided blanket so it won't go 'wonky' when washed and dried? - thanks!

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  14. Oh, I see what you mean. For one thing, I used purchased cording to make piping around all the edges, sewing it in between the sides, so that held it together, similar to what you were asking.

    If you were not putting piping in, I would definitely use some sort of zigzag stitch or even a straight stich.

    Hope this helps. The piping effect is nice, too.

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  15. Thank you so much for posting this! I have never made baby blankets before and couldn't find reversible flannel. I just could NOT find another flannel I liked for the other side of one of the fabrics I bought, and wasn't sure if I could use regular cotton. I stumbled upon this post and you have given me the courage to try it. I am going to crochet an edging on it though. I'll just have to either use a smaller hook or sew a blanket stitch around the edge first to give me something to go into if the cotton is too closely woven. By the way, I saw your pictures here, my dog is a TDI dog too! :0)

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  16. Thank you for posting this! I have never made baby blankets before. I couldn't find reversible flannel and just could NOT find another flannel I liked for the other side of one of the fabrics I bought. I really didn't know if I could use regular cotton and then I stumbled upon this post -- you have given me the courage to try it! I am going to crochet an edging around it, though. I'll just either have to use a smaller hook or sew a blanket stitch around the edge first to give me something to go into. By the way, my dog is a TDI dog too! :0)

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    1. So happy this helped you! Show us your finished product!

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