Chenille Baby Blanket how to!

I figured I may as well make this blog semi-useful... Not just a bunch of words about what I do all day to keep the kids and I busy. So here we go with my first Bloggy Tutorial!

I realised one Saturday that we were about to meet our Newest Niece on Sunday, and I had nothing to give her! So being overly ambitious I chose to make her a Chenille blanket! Now Chenilling was introduced to me by a good friend of mine. Her blanket has been taking her months. I figure one night, I can do it! And it's possible! With a lot of coffee and inspiration (like a cute baby), but possible!

What you will need:

3-5 one and a half meter pieces of flannelette(depending how thick you want it)

1 piece of backing fabric ( can be another piece of flannelette or other heavier fabric)

Some fabric or bias tape to finish the edges with.

Lots and lots of matching thread (match to the backing fabric)

Pins

Sewing machine

Scissors or the fancy chenilling tool (I used scissors... Wish I had bought the tool....)

Step one:

Lay your fabric out, Smoothing each piece as you go.

Step two:

Take out your foot shaped pin cushion ( the one you made to commemorate the day your husband stepped on one fully loaded with over 100 pins it) And pin those layers of fabric like you've never pinned before. This is pretty important. I learned the hard way with the first blanket I made. If you don't pin, your backing fabric can fold and you will get dart like puckers that you aren't going to rip out because you just spent an hour on that section... Also, make sure your cat does not mess up your smoothing......

Step Three:

Sew! Sew every 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch on the bias (at a 45` angle) Watch for pins!! You will hit your arm with them and it will hurt if you aren't overly cautious. You will also go through at least 3 bobbins of thread. There's a lot of stitching! It should look something like this:

Step Four:

Cut! Being very careful to not cut the bottom/backing layer, cut in between each row of stitching. ( I couldn't get a clear pic of this step....)

Step Five:

Wash! This is what your blanket should look like before washing:

This is what your blanket will look like after washing!

And there you have it! You have a super soft, super cuddly little blanket to snuggle your baby in (or your niece, or your nephew, or your friends baby, or, or, or... :) )

Please note that to create this tutorial I made 3 different blankets (Okay, so I'm in the process of making the 3rd one. It's for one of my own so it will take me a lot longer then one night. LOL)

I hope you all try this out! It is fun to do, if a bit tedious. But you get a wonderful blanket out of it, one that will hopefully be cherished for years!

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Please click around to find some great inspiration!