Simple Baby Blanket with Applique

Hi All!!

Welcome to another sewing project! I made these for one of my good friends. Her grandchildren are expecting soon, and these went to them! I took some progress pictures along the way of different parts of both of the blankets, but I did them the same way, so I’m combining them into 1 post. The gray ones are for a set of twins and the pink for a different new arrival. I can happily report that both moms loved the blankets and were super excited that they were a bigger size!

****This is an advanced beginner to intermediate level sewing project. (Mostly because of working with the Minky/cuddle fabric that likes to shift while you’re sewing it.)

Supplies:

• Sewing machine, thread and notions
• Material I already had:
  • Pellon Wonder Under (Can be found here)
  • Minky fabric for appliques
  • Fabric marking pen or tailor’s chalk
• Material amounts I bought:
  • 1 Yard Flannel material for the front (came on 42″ wide bolts)
  • 1 Yard Minky/cuddle material for the back (Came on 52″ wide bolts)
  • 1 package of satin blanket binding (You use all but about 8 inches.)

Note: All Seams are sewn at 1/2 inch unless otherwise stated, and all seams are basic straight stitches unless otherwise noted.)

Instructions:

1. First you need to cut out and prepare the applique.
   • Determine what size and shape of applique you want on the blanket.
   • Prepare a piece of fabric that is slightly larger than your applique size. You’ll want to fuse the same size piece of Wonder Under to the back side of your applique, keeping the paper attached that comes with it. While fusing any sticky substance with an iron, I either use parchment paper between the material and the cutting board cover or a Teflon ironing sheet. (The one pictured under the Peter Pan shadows is obviously a Cricut brand one.) I also use that same material between what I’m cutting and the iron. I hate to clean up after ironing, so I try to do everything I can to make it as easy as possible.
   • I then used Cricut Design Space to upload and size my .jpg file of Peter Pan’s shadow, or the dinosaur I already owned an image of through Cricut, and then used my Cricut Maker with the rotary blade to cut out the Minky material that had the Wonder Under fused to the back. I cut them out with the paper backing still on the Wonder Under and that side adhered to the Pink (Fabric) Cricut Mat.
   • Alternate method: (You can also print your picture outline, trace on the Wonder Under, fuse to fabric and cut out with fabric scissors.)

2. Optional: I used my embroidery machine (I have a Brother NS-1750D) to embroider the names on a corner of the flannel front.
3. Next, iron the applique to the front of the flannel piece above the name. (You’ll want to again have your parchment paper or Teflon sheet between the material and your iron.) I did this step at this point on purpose so that I could place the applique where it would look the best in relation to the embroidery.
4. Then sew around the outside to add some extra stability for longevity of the blanket. On the Peter Pan ones, I used a straight stitch just inside the border of the applique about 1/8 inch in all the way around, and for the dinosaur, I used a blanket stitch around the outside of the applique and added a face and bow, again using the embroidery machine. You could also do this by hand.

5. Now that the finishing touches to the top layer are done, I put my quilt sandwich together, with pretty sides of the fabric out. This allows me to quit it. If I did not want to quilt it, which is an option if no batting is involved, you could put the fabric right sides together and pin the binding in the middle of the sandwich then turn it to have a different effect. (Side Note: On these blankets because they will be used in a variety of climates, I did not add batting to the middle, you could. I felt the flannel and Minky was heavy enough for Summer, and you could always add another layer during colder months, or they’ll be wearing warmer pj’s anyway.) To make the sandwich, you’ll need to trim the excess Minky away since the flannel is not as wide of a bolt of fabric as the Minky. Then plan out your quilt lines. I marked them on the pink blanket and took pictures as I worked my way out from the center on a diagonal of the blanket doing a row on each side every time I pinned. I recommend pinning, stitching then pinning the next lines, then stitching and pinning the next again because Minky fabric is notorious for slipping and sliding while you sew. I also pin along each side of the line far enough away that I don’t worry about the pins going under the foot or the needle, and also always sew from one side of the blanket so that the fabric is feeding through your machine the same way. In this instance since these blankets have a top edge and bottom based on the applique image, I always sewed from the top edges to the bottom edges along the diagonals.

6. Once your quilting is complete, it’s time to add your binding around the border of the blanket. I’ll be adding a separate tutorial on attaching binding to blankets and how to get that perfect 45-degree corner along with how to attach the ends of the binding together to finish it off.
7. Either wash the blanket to get rid of your markings, or iron depending on the type of fabric pen you used.
8. You then have your wonderful, versatile, and personalized crib/toddler bed size blanket to cherish for years to come.

I hope this inspires you to create a blanket for someone special that will be arriving soon; or has recently arrived! Let’s face it, we don’t always get our planning and execution done as soon as we would like….at least I certainly don’t!!