simple flannel receiving blanket

as much as i enjoy being outside, it's been hotter than hot with an extra dose of humidity here lately, so i've been hiding in my air conditioned house doing a lot of sewing! 

one recent project was this super easy receiving blanket.

to make it i used:
1 yd flannel fabric
1 yd cotton fabric
pins
my handy-dandy sewing machine, loaded with coordinating thread
scissors
a needle and a bit of extra thread

after cutting the cotton fabric to a 30" x 36" rectangle,
i spread the flannel fabric out and smoothed it out.

(you only need a yard of flannel for this project, i just had this big piece of flannel on hand, so i just had a lot more to cut away after pinning.)

then my dog got on, so i shoved him off to one corner.

with the dog off to the side, i laid the cotton fabric down, wrong side facing up, on top of the flannel.

i then pinned the fabrics together, all the way around.  the more pins, the less movement, but i'm always lazy and only pinned every 4-5" or so. 
then i cut off the extra flannel fabric, leaving about 1/4" of flannel all the way around. 

you could cut it all even at this point, so both pieces are 30" x 36", but i'm always afraid of the flannel fabric pulling while i sew them together and having to start over, so i like having extra to work with... just in case i end up pulling out all my seams and starting over.  it's easier to line up fabrics when they're not exactly the same size. 
....this fear is based on a bad, beginner's experience 4 yrs ago.  apparently, i'm still not over it, since i make all my blankets using this extra step.  =)

but anywho... back to the project....

i then took it to the machine and sewed the edges, using a 1/4" seam, almost all the way around.

you want to leave about a 5" gap in your stitching.  (or whatever size will be big enough to put your hand through and turn it all inside out later.)  be sure to reinforce your stitching in the begining and when you get to the end.  that way, your blanket doesn't start to unravel while you turn it inside out.

NOW is when i cut the extra flannel off, trim up my edges and cut the corners at an angle.
(this helps the corners look "sharp" when it's turned inside out.)

after turning it inside out, i poke my finger into each corner to make them as pointy as possible.  then i grab my good, old fashioned needle and thread and stitch that 5" gap closed.

next up, pick a stitch to use all the way around your blanket.  i usually just use a straight stitch, but i was feeling fancy this time and used this curvy one instead.  =)

easy peasy!

baby blanket makeover (DIY)

i thought i'd share with you this super simple baby blanket makeover i did. 
i love shopping for great deals and bargains, but sometimes you find something that's just almost perfect.  this is why i love spray paint and my sewing machine.  between the two of them, i can take something that's almost perfect and make it fabulous!  this time around, no spray paint was required.  =)

i found this baby blanket at marshalls.  it was satin on one side, faux fur swirled minky on the other and has a satin trim.  it retails for $23.99, but it was on clearance for only $5.99, so i HAD to buy it.  even if i didn't like it "as is."  i saw potential... i just had to figure out what exactly to do.  so it sat around for a couple months before it dawned on me.

this is actually a pillowcase that i bought about a month ago.  i was buying fabric to use in the new baby's nursery when i saw it and got it, even though, at the time, i had no plan for what i could use it for.  then, one day, as i sat and stared at my collection of fabric and that blanket with "potential" that was too good a deal to pass up, it hit me!

i took a quick measurement of the pillowcase and then the blanket (with my youngest's help) and i had figured it out!  the pillowcase was just big enough to cover the satin side of the blanket.  so i cut it open along the seams and measured out a rectangle the size of the blanket.  i wanted to leave the satin edging, so i only measured the inside rectangle, which was, in this case 27" x 37".

when cutting out the rectangle, i left an extra inch all the way around, to allow for a 1/2" seam.  so, i cut out a 28" x 38" rectangle from the pillowcase.

i then laid that on top of the blanket to get an idea of where i was headed... and i liked it!
(if you're short on time, feel free to skip this step.)  =)

next, i ironed out the fabric, which could have/should have been done before cutting the fabric, but i tend to get ahead of myself.  =)
this way, i smoothed out the fabric and pressed those 1/2" edges all in one step.

next, i took some No-Sew fabric glue and glued down the edges with a thin line of glue, all the way around.  No-Sew is a temporary hold adhesive, so it'll wash out later, but it held that edge down while i sewed the blanket together.

i glued the two long sides first, then folded up and glued the 2 short sides.  using the glue made it easy to re-position the edges, if needed, so that the corners were perfect and you couldn't see any of the folded under fabric.

then i sewed a 1/4" seam all the way around the pillowcase fabric... and forgot to take a picture of that step.  sorry!

here you can see where i've already sewn the 1/4" seam.  i then laid down the fabric on top of the blanket and pinned it to the blanket, as centered as possible. 
when making blankets from "scratch" i always fuss over them not being perfectly squared, but you know what... that store bought blanket was far from squared!  so i just did my best to center it, using the original seams as a guide.

i pinned it all the way around, but wasn't too fussy with it.  just every 4-6 inches or so.

then i brought it all the the machine. 
i used a 1/8" seam this time around and pulled out pins as i went.  as you can see, the corners aren't perfect, since the original blanket was a bit "off" but i'm pretty sure no one will ever notice.

ah, much better!  an all brown blanket was just missing something.  so this bright, retro floral is just what it needed!  and since it was a vintage pillowcase, it's all soft and worn in!