Baby Blankie *Level 2*

Remember a few weeks ago when we learned how to make a super easy baby blanket? Well...way back then...I promised baby blanket level 2.

At our house we aren't allowed to promise things unless we mean it. (mostly it's used to force someone to admit that they stunk up the room. You can't say "promise" unless you really didn't do it. It's kind of fun to skirt the issue without promising. Or just pretending you don't understand the question.) Sometimes I tell you way too much about life at our house!

Anyway, hopefully you've had time to master blankie level one. And you're ready for level 2.

Let me start by saying, I'm kind of a novice at this particular style. And the reason you're about to see "how-to" photos from 2 different blankets....is because I royally screwed up the first one. But I fixed it. And the second one went off without a hitch. So, practice makes perfect.

These are DEFINITELY harder than the first ones. But so stinkin' cute. Totally worth learning!

*lots of photos to follow....
hopefully enough for you to follow along*

Start with 2 coordinating fabrics. You'll need one yard of the center fabric. And 1 1/4 yard of the back. The back fabric wraps around and is also visible on the front. So just keep that in mind.

I'm still a big fan of corduroy. But 2 cottons would work. Or 2 flannel. I know minkie works in the center, but you might not want to use it for your back fabric until you're more comfortable making them. The stretch in the minkie will probably pose some issues.

Cut your center fabric into a 30" square. And your backing into a 40" square.



When your squares are cut, take each piece and fold it in half to find the edge center. Mark the center with a pin. Do this on each side of your square, and on both pieces of fabric. You should have one pin, in the center of each side.

• Then match up a center pin of one piece to a center on the other piece.
  
• Pin them together.
  
• Then continue pinning the side from the center pin out to the corner.
  
• Repeat on the other side of the center pin.

  You should have excess backing material in the corners as pictured above.

• Repeat on each side. Don't be tempted to start from the corner.
  

GO FROM THE CENTER OUT

• Once it's all pinned, you can begin to sew.

• Starting on the CENTER of one side, sew a 3/8" seam to the corner.
  

Stop just short of the corner.

• Return to the center of that side, and sew to the other corner.
  

Stopping just short of the end, again.
That will keep your corners flat.

• Sew all 4 sides.
  

However, on the 4th side, leave about 4-5" in the center open...
for turning.

• Next, you'll take your excess corner fabric, and iron it. Fold into a triangle. Just match up the straight sides of the seams, and steam iron the fold as shown.

The next part is really why this project is "level 2"
and is where I ALWAYS screw it up.

• You are going to match your ironed, folded side....down to the fold on the blanket.

See the action above.

It's a little awkward, and isn't the way you'd think you would fold.
But it won't work if you do it the other way.

This is what it SHOULD look like. I try to remember that it should look like those hats that you fold out of your church program.

Wait. Am I the only one who does that? Anyway, I call it a hat fold.

• Iron (with steam) along that new fold line. Make sure you iron it well.

• Sew a straight stitch across the fold line that you created.

At this point I suggest that you turn it inside out and verify that you did the corners correctly. I skipped that step the first time, and ruined the blanket. So turn it and poke the corners out...just to make sure.

• Once you're sure it's right, turn it back and trim the corners. About 1/4" from your seam.

• Then turn your blanket, and iron it so that it lays flat.

• The final step is to sew in the seam of the two fabrics. You can use a wide zig-zag, or use a decorative stitch.

You will sew right over the turning hole you left.
So there's no reason for hand-stitching. I like that part!!

I love to do a decorative stitch in a really contrasting thread.
This is a close up of how my girlie blanket stitch turned out.

And here's the boy one. So different from the girl one!! I love them both!

And here's the final product. Aren't they cute?

And it seems like a lot, when you look at the detailed instructions...but it's actually not too bad. It's more about getting the technique down.

Here's a couple other tips:

• When folding, you don't want to catch too much of the front fabric. That's usually where the problems arise.
• If you fold the wrong way, you'll learn really fast how you make a box. And that's good to know!
  
• Decorative stitches add a TON of time to your finish time. If you're in a hurry, just go zig-zag. (some of them take a lot of thread too. I ran out. ARGH!!)
• If you're super cool...you could also make a matching one of THESE to go with it. But that would probably be overkill......NAH!

I hope you'll like "BLANKIE LEVEL 2". I KNOW you'll like the outcome. It's totally worth trying it out!

(and thanks for being so understanding about my sparse posts....just hold on with me for 2 weeks. Then it will be posting as usual!! You guys are so great!)




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