Made By Mabelette Monday- Ricky Blankets

For today's Monday project I am going to show you how I make my most popular baby gift. I give this gift to everyone we know that has a baby and now they are so well know I have been selling them to people who want to give them to their friends. What everyone (myself included) loves about these blankets is that they last forever. Every time you wash them they get a little softer and will keep for years. They are bigger than a receiving blanket and are a little warmer. They are great to lay on the floor for when babies play or cuddle with in their crib. Palmer still has his blanket from when he was a baby and loves it!

I call it the Ricky Blanket because I use Jumbo Rick Rack for the edging and babies love the feel of it.

For this project you will need two yards of coordinating baby print flannel, 2 packages of Jumbo Rick Rack, coordinating thread, scissors, pins, iron, and sewing machine. This is what Jumbo Rick Rack looks like. It can be found at most fabric stores in the bias tap and trim section.

The first step to making the blanket is to press your fabric well. You will also want to make sure that both pieces of your fabric match up and trim your selvages (the line on the bottom or side of the fabric that is the name of the fabric).

The second step is to pin your blanket together. With the fabric right sides together (the printed side) and the Rick Rack in between pin together all three layers.

For the corners I pin with the rick rack going all the way beyond the end of the fabric and pin two sides of the rick rack together. Once this is sewn we will trim our corners.

Once your blanket is pinned it is time to sew. I use my presser foot as a guide for what seam line to use. I believe it is 1/4'' or so. Make sure you leave about a 4-6'' opening so that you can turn your blanket right side out.

Once you finish sewing turn your blanket right side out and press. Make sure you turn your opening in when you press so that it will be easier to sew close.

Once you have pressed the blanket really well the next step is to top stitch the blanket. The sewing machine that I now have has several decorative stitches to choose from. For years before I had this machine I used a zig zag stitch to top stitch my blankets. This actually is a cute idea. If you do not want to use the zig zag you can simply do a regular straight stitch as close to the edge as you get all the way around the blanket. Whatever stitch you use make sure to catch your opening so it closes nicely.

And there you have it...an awesome Ricky blanket to give your baby or a friend's! If you wait until the material is on sale you can buy all of your fabric and rick rack for less than $10. If you happen to make one be sure to send me a picture so I can post it for others to see. This blanket is for personal use only...not sell :) Please let me know if something was not clear and I will try to answer your questions as best I can!

http://hopestudios.blogspot.com/2011/01/tutorial-tuesday_31.html

http://angieasplund.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-made-this-tuesday-12.html