Holiday season 2008, a friend, Alicia T., told me about this amazing craft that was fun and easy. What she shared with me is how to make a "no-sew" fleece blanket. Exactly as the name suggests, it is a blanket you make, yet no sewing necessary! No needle or thread. No sewing machine. Simply two pieces of identical sized fabric, scissors and a ruler. How great is that?
That year, I decided to give it a try and made one for my Grandma Vi for Christmas. Grandma Vi gets cold easily (think that is where my mom gets it from) and her favorite color is blue. Therefore from Jeff and I that year, she received a "no-sew" blanket, in blue. We wanted to make sure she stays warm and cozy when hanging around her house.
Now that we live in Colorado, where the climate and temperatures can vary greatly compared to what we were used to in AZ. It makes sense to have blankets around the house to use in the cold winter months. Of course, something I recently realized is with being from AZ, we don't have many blankets. We have a nice throw draped over a chair in our living room, however that is pretty much it. I decided we needed more blankets and our first to be added to our home and help keep us warm this winter, a "no-sew" blanket.
When I made Grandma Vi's blanket, I did one piece of fabric a solid blue and the other a blue with white & gray pattern. For ours, I did two solid colors....Yellow & Dark Gray. The colors in our Master bedroom are white, gray & yellow so seemed the perfect combination.
Steps to make your own No-Sew blanket....
1) For each blank you are going to make, you need to select two separate pieces of no-pill fleece fabric at your local fabric/craft store. Further need to decide on what combo:
a) two pieces of fabric that are the same color or pattern
b) two pieces of fabric that are different solid colors
c) two pieces of fabric, one being a solid color and other being having a pattern/design
You get the idea...be creative and select two pieces of fabric you want for your blanket, no matter the variation
2) Have each piece you'll use for the blanket cut at the craft/fabric store. You'll need 2 - 3 yards of each. Whatever size you go with, you will want to have both pieces cut the same size. I went with 2 1/2 yards of each piece of material and find that to a great size when finished. Whatever floats your boat though on the size.
3) Take the fabric home and wash & dry the fabric prior to starting your blanket
4) Trim off selvage edges
5) Lay out each piece of fabric and place the fleece layers wrong sides together.
6) Cut 4" or 5" (whatever you prefer) squares out of both piece of fleece at each corner. I went for 4" square. Best to have some template you make to place over each corner. Either a piece of paper, fabric, etc, pre-cut into the exact square you want to cut out of each corner. This ensures all corners are cut exactly the same.
7) To make fringe, cut 4" or 5" (whatever size you went with in #6 above, stick with for this step), into fleece, at 1" intervals around all four sides of both layers.
- since I went with a 4" square for my blanket in step #6, for step #7, I cut 4" fringe
8) Knot fringe pieces together, using one strand from the top layer and one strand from the bottom. Repeat around all four edges.
Done! Now you are ready to snuggle up & stay warm using your no-sew blanket!
