Make a Blanket

Everyone has their favorite blanket for cuddling up on the couch on a chilly day, but few actually make their own customized blankets. Sew or knit your own personalized blanket or make keepsake blankets to give as gifts to friends and family that they'll cherish forever. Choose a style of blanket from the options below and start crafting your way to a cozy creation.

Steps

Make a Fleece Tie Blanket

  1. Measure out two strips of fleece material as big as you want your blanket to be. You will probably want between 1.5 and 3 yards of each fleece. You can choose any color or pattern you desire.
    • You can mix and match patterns and solids by using a single color on one side of the blanket and a patterned print on the other. In this case you will need one piece of each style you plan to use.
  2. Lay your first piece of fleece with the rougher side facing up and then lay the second yard of fleece on top, soft side facing up. Make sure that the rough sides of the fleece are facing one another and that the fuzzy sides are facing outward.
  3. Place a self healing mat under the fleece and use a rotary cutter to cut off the rough edges of the fleece. Use the lines on your template to ensure a straight cut.
  4. Cut a 4-inch by 4-inch square out of thick paper. Place it in one corner of the blanket and cut the fleece around it so that a square is cut out of the corner. Repeat for the remaining three sides of the fleece.
  5. Take your tape measure and lay it across the fleece from the top of one right angle to the other so that there is a 4-inch strip of fleece below the tape measure. Pin the tape measure down so that it doesn't move.
  6. Cut the 4-inch section into strips any thickness you want using your scissors or rotary cutter. Usually 1-inch strips are used. Only cut to just below the tape measure line.
  7. Repeat for the remaining three sides of the fleece, making sure to pin the tape measure in place. You should now have fringes along all sides of the fleece.
  8. Separate the top layer of fleece from the bottom layer of fleece for each fringe and tie the two together in a double knot. Complete for each fringe on the blanket.

Knit a Blanket

  1. Familiarize yourself with knitting, casting on and casting off if you do not know how to perform these tasks.
  2. Cast on the desired number of stitches. These cast on loops will serve as the foundation for your knitting squares.
  3. Twist the yarn into a loop around your index finger and wrap the loop over the top of the needle. Pull the loop tight on the needle.
    • If you are using size 7, 8, 9 or 10 needles, cast-on about 150 stitches to make a medium-sized blanket. If using a size 11, 12 or 13 needle, cast on between 70 to 80 stitches. For even larger needles, cast on between 60 and 70 stitches.
  4. Begin to knit your blanket using a garter stitch. Knit squares to the size that you want and then knit the squares together to build your blanket.
  5. Start knitting your squares. Use any type of wool or yarn that you choose.
  6. Sew your squares together as your accumulate them. First create long rows of squares and then assemble the rows together.
  7. Cast off your stitches by pushing the left needle into the stitch you knitted first, pulling it over the second stitch, and finally completely off the needle.
  8. Bind off the remaining stitches and trim any loose ends. Tie the end of the yarn into a knot and push it back through a stitch with your needle.

Crochet a Blanket

  1. Choose your yarn and crochet hook size. You will need 3-4 skeins of yarn for a lap blanket and 6-8 skeins for a larger throw blanket.
    • Crochet hooks range in size from B to S, with S being the largest. The bigger the hook, the larger the stitch.
  2. Decide whether you want to make a single crochet or a double crochet blanket. The single crochet is the easier of the two, so beginners should learn the single crochet before attempting the double crochet.
  3. Make a foundation chain of stitches along your needle. Slide a slipknot onto the crochet hook, wrap the yarn around the hook from the back to the front and draw a new loop through the knot.
  4. To make a single crochet stitch, wrap the end of the yarn around the hook. Start behind the hook and come over the hook and then draw it underneath.
    • For a double crochet, insert the hook under the fourth loop from the hook. Yarn over the hook and pull it through the center of the chain. Then yarn over the hook and draw the yarn through the first two loops from the hook. Repeat for the last two loops on the hook.
  5. At the end of the row, flip your work so that the last stitch made is now the first stitch to be worked for the next row. Work from left to right.
  6. Continue this process until you have about a foot of yarn left. You can switch colors whenever you get to the end of a row before flipping your work if you like.
  7. Cut the leftover yarn down to about six inches and thread it through your needle, pulling it through the last loop on your crochet hook. Incorporate any loose ends into the blanket with small stitches before trimming the ends.

Make a Quilt

  1. Choose your template and your fabric. You can either create a template using graph paper or find a free template online. You can use as many different patterns/colors of fabric as you like to make your quilt.
  2. Transfer your template to your fabric and cut out the squares. Use a rotary cutter and a self-healing mat to achieve squares as precise as possible.
  3. Sew each square together leaving a 1/4-inch seam allowance. Use a sewing machine to sew the squares into your desired pattern.
  4. Baste the quilted squares, batting, and backing together. Sew the three layers together with a simple stitch in each corner of the quilt. You will remove this stitch later.
    • Fusible batting needs to be ironed to the other two layers, but regular batting does not.
  5. Sew the quilt together starting from the middle and working out. Follow the seams in the quilt block and keep a 1/4-inch seam allowance between your stitching and the seam.
  6. Remove the temporary stitches that you used to hold together the three layers. You should be able to easily cut out the stitches using scissors.
  7. Add borders to the quilt if you want them. Sew long strips of fabric to the outside border of the quilt to create a more complex, polished pattern.

Tips

  • Bigger crochet hooks will give you bigger stitches, meaning wider holes in your blanket. For a warmer, tight-knit blanket, use a smaller crochet hook.
  • When quilting, a quilting frame can be very useful for keeping your squares in place.
  • Choose the right size knitting needles to match the type of yarn you are using.
  • Choose colors and patterns that compliment each other when using multiple fabric types.

Things You'll Need

  • Fabric or yarn
  • Tape measure
  • Pencil or pen
  • Sewing machine
  • Crochet needle
  • Thread
  • Scissors

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