No-Sew Blankets

I am certain that I am not the first person to ever make a no-sew fleece blanket.  In fact, I may actually be the very last person on earth to attempt making one, given the number of individuals buying fleece in 1.5 yard lots at Jo-Ann fabric when I was there. Now that I know how simple they are to make, I can only surmise that anyone buying fleece must certainly be making one.Or three.  What started out as a homemade Christmas present I'd give to my 1-year-old daughter this year, since she really doesn't have an ultra-warm blanket bigger than an infant size, turned into me deciding to make a blanket for each of my boys, too.  Our house gets so cold in the winter since it's 160 years old, so tucking them in at night with a double-layer fleece blankie sounded like a great idea.

So, about $10-$15 each for material and approximately 1.5 hours each later, I now have three no-sew fleece blankets to wrap up for my children for Christmas in fun patterns that I think they will all enjoy. 

Now, I certianly was familiar with these blankets before this week.  My friend Amy had actually made me one for my baby shower in a fun frog print.  We still use it regularly in our playroom, as a blankie to crawl around on, cover each other with, put babies on, etc.  It just never occured to me to find out how to make them myself before, until I started thinking about some useful items I could give the children for Christmas this year.  All of a sudden, I found myself at Jo-Ann fabric, deciding between flowers or polka dots, pirates or baseballs. 

What really enticed me, however, was the "no sew" tagline.  Granted, I do know how to sew and I do own a sewing machine.  However, my crafty skills lie elsewhere and sewing is usually not my first love.  I love the project ideas you can make by sewing and have vowed to look into more of them this year, but for now, my bobbins remain empty.  So, without a doubt, the fact that I can make these blankets with nothing more than a ruler, some masking tape and a pair of scissors is very exciting to me!

In case there is someone out there who, like me, has always wondered how to make these blankets but has never tried, or someone who is maybe hearing about them for the first time, I am including instructions below.  There are several weeks left until Christmas and each of these blankets took me less than 2 hours to make.  So, it is definitely a doable homemade gift idea for someone special on your list.  Just don't go showing my children this photo before December 25th, ok? :)

No-Sew Fleece Blankets
2 pieces of fleece, 1.5 yards each. 
scissors
ruler
pins
masking tape

Cut the seams off of your fleece pieces and line up, with right sides facing outward.  Pin together as best as possible.  Do one "clean up" trim around the edges of both pieces of fleece together, so that they are the exact same size.  If they are slightly off, no worries!  The nice thing about these blankets is that the fringe will mask any slight indescrepancies in measuring. 

Cut out a 4"x4" square from both pieces of fleece together, at each corner.

Pull one long piece of tape across the entire side of the blanket, to make a line of masking tape across your entire project.  Line the bottom of the tape up with the top of the 4" square in the corners and continue an inch or two past each end of the blanket to secure it to the table.

Trim 1 inch wide slits into both layers of the fleece on the taped side, going from the edge right up to the masking tape line.  Continue until the entire side is cut into slits.  Tie the corresponding slits together in double knots, this will be one top piece and one bottom piece of fleece.  As you tie them into knots, your fringe will be forming.

Continue on all sides until all sides have been slitted and all slits have been tied to make fringe.