I had mentioned that one of the things on my "Before Baby Comes" list, was to make Raven a blanket. The blanket I meant then, isn't this one. I didn't know if someone was going to make her a blanket that would be the blanket we would use at the hospital and going home. When Evelyn was born, my nephew was born about five months earlier and at this time, my husband's uncle's wife was making baby things on Etsy. Mostly ruffle bum stuff and blankets. So our nephew and Evelyn received blankets with their names on them. She doesn't do that stuff anymore, she wasn't doing it too much more then and that was four years ago, so I knew we wouldn't get the same kind of blanket this time around. My mother in law likes to sew blankets and such but she messed up her hand. So she was out on that too.
I waited until after the baby shower. No homemade blanket, though I did get some adorable home sewn burp cloths, so I was able to start one! I love to make baby blankets! You can see from past posts the ones I have done.
This blanket is my best so far!
You maybe can see Raven's name on the corner. Evelyn's had the same so I wanted Raven's to also. Raven's turned out bigger than Evelyn's but I had wished that Evelyn's was bigger when we were even in the hospital. It made it a bit hard to swaddle her in it.
This was the first time I have ever personalized a blanket this way. I added fusing paper to some of the extra minky and cut out
R a v e n
I ironed it onto the front of the baby blanket and used a very tight zig zag stitch around the edge of each letter including the insides of "R," "a," and "e."
I always have problems with sewing minky for a blanket because of how easily it moves. I found a way around that! All you need is a wall and push pins.
Step 1: Sew one end of your blanket with the inside facing out. If your cotton fabric has a directional print, be sure it matches the "smoothness direction" of your minky. In my case the minky goes smoothly down while the elephants and turtles "march" from left to right.
Step 2: Pin the blanket on the wall at the top then on the bottom. Don't pull tight, smooth out the material and then just pin it the way it hangs. Pin one side every 1.5 inches or so and sew that side.
Step 3: Repeat Step 2 on other side. Remember, do not pull tight to pin. Pin it on the wall as it hangs, just be sure it's smoothed out.
Step 4: Cut the extra fabric in the corners and turn right sides out and either finger press or iron the edges flat. Sew all the way around to create a boarder leaving the non sewed side open.
Step 5: Pin top of blanket to the wall, smooth out fabric and pin the bottom to the wall. Turn the last side of the blanket inside and pin. I always mess up the last side of the blanket so I pin the last side at every 1 inch of fabric. Sew blanket closed.
Step 6 (optional): I don't like how the last side of the blanket is different from the rest. To correct that, I sew around at the very edge of the blanket which also creates a sturdier boarder.
Step 7 (optional): Personalize the blanket with a name, monogram or patch. I already mentioned how I made Raven's name. If you have an embroidery machine, use it! Remember, a homemade blanket is already personal, so don't feel you need to add this step. Think of who you are making the blanket for and it will be very personal and the person receiving it will feel your love for them and/or their child.
I hope these tips will help you. I felt awesome when I realized how much help pinning it to the wall was. Sure you can use a sewing table, kitchen table or floor to spread it all out, but why not let gravity help you?
