WFMW: Tie-Down Blanket Tutorial

(Yes, this post is an old one...from last week! LOL I'm submitting it for 6'o clock Stitch's Make & Tell Monday - head over to see some other GREAT tutorials! Also, be sure to check out her weekly Etsy page - she has a list of giveaways, promotions and sales!)

Today, friends, we are going to learn how to make the Easiest Blanket in the World. (Or, Fleece Tie-Down Blanket for short.) I made this one in a hurry because once the fleece was laid out, both kids wanted to use the blanket/spit on the blanket/spin on the blanket...and "help" tie the blanket.

Begin by purchasing two pieces of fleece, of equal length. Fleece is very, very wide. (This blanket is about one yard. A pair of three-yard pieces makes a comfortable blanket for a twin sized bed. A yard and a half would give you a square-ish blanket.)

Trim the pieces so that they match exactly. You can cut off the selvage edges (the funky curly edges) if you like, but you don't need to. (You'll see that there is nothing exact about this blanket! It's a very forgiving project.

Lay the pieces on the floor, wrong sides together, so that it is exactly how a blanket should be, with the pretty parts facing out.

Smooth out the fleece, and then start cutting!

Begin by cutting a 6" square out of each corner of the blanket.

Continue from there, cutting slits into the fabric that are 6" deep (to match the squares you just cut out) and approximately 1" apart, cutting through both pieces of fleece at once (top and bottom). Repeat on all four sides of the blanket.

Now, tie 'er up! For each strip that you cut into the fabric, tie the top piece to its matching bottom piece. Do this any way you like, but make sure you use either a double knot it or tie a square knot so the blanket doesn't fall apart. Also, don't do this too tight - you don't want your blanket to come out round!


Here's the blanket halfway done. You can see BBJ "helping" and Siu Jeun testing it out.

And....we're done! Wasn't that simple? This project took me two days, only because Siu Jeun got tired of laying on his new blanket. Cutting the strips takes about half an hour, as does tying the blanket up. Make sure you do this project on the floor - the last thing you want is to do it on a table that is too small and have the whole thing slide off and fall apart before you can get it tied!


I love that it's small enough that a toddler could drag it around with them, but large enough that both kids fit on it fairly comfortably! Fleece blankets make the best playmats because they keep little bottoms warm on our cold, cold floors!

I think he likes it...

Yup...definitely a keeper!

(The fabric for this blanket came from a very generous Freecycler! I had put out a request for fleece to use as stuffing for my little jingle-blocks for the shop. She asked if I wanted a blanket that she was never going to get around to finishing. I almost felt guilty when I realized how close she was to having a new blanket! I couldn't bear to cut the fleece up into scrap when it was so close to being completed...and I'd been thinking of making a new blanket for Siu Jeun anyhow. She had already laid the pieces together, cut the corners out, and cut one side of the blanket into strips. Another 45 minutes...oh well. Perhaps she didn't have little ones at home that needed a new blanket! At any rate, I am very grateful to the generosity of strangers!)

For more Works For Me goodness, head over to We Are THAT Family.

A Fleece Skirt - Tutorial

I was recently gifted with a ton of free fabric. Mixed into the stash was some camel colored fleece. As soon as I saw it, I could picture it as a skirt for my daughter. It would be a simple, straight sided skirt, with a bright floral applique on the front. It was going to be AMAZING.

Here's what I came up with.

I took her measurements (21" waist, 9" from waist to knee). I wanted the skirt to be flared, so I cut two identical pieces that were 15" at the bottom and 11" at the top and 10" long.

I cut a slit in the center, top of the "back" piece, to add a button to later.



I left the "front" piece as is.

I cut the slit (about 3" long) in the top center of the back piece, and then put a perpendicular cut at the bottom, about 3/4". I opened up the resulting flaps and sewed them down. This is where the button will go.

I folded the top of both pieces down, about 1/2", and sewed that to make the top hem. (Is it called a hem up there? Whatever.)

I cut a flower out of some craft felt and machined stitched a pink center on.
I pinned the flower to the front of the skirt, and machine stitched that on.


Lay the pieces right sides together, and stitch up the sides of the skirt, making certain the tops are matched up.

When the two pieces are put together, fold up the bottom of the skirt and hem that.

Make sure, when you sew the hem around the bottom, that the side seams are opened up - otherwise you'll get big lumps in the side, and that's definitely Not Cute.

Attach a button to the button flap, and make a slit in the opposite flap that's the same size as the button. After I made my slit, I stitched around it twice to make it sturdy. I cut the slit before I sewed because I wanted to make sure it would match up with the button.

Here's the finished product! When you button up the back of the skirt, there will be a big fold in the fabric - go ahead and pinch that together and sew it up on the inside of the skirt to taper the back side of the skirt. Trim off the extra fabric that you just stitched.

Voila!