Posted by Lori~
A great big thanks to our friend and WOM-MOM follower Jen for doing a craft guest post. Jen has been loving her sewing machine a lot lately, and has been whipping up beanie baby blankets. Thank you Jen for the tutorial!
I bought a beanie baby blanket at a craft show for my son, "Smiles" and he
loves it. I thought “I can make that” and went to work figuring out how to do
it. I did find a sewing
video (http://www.cuddlesoftkits.com/cuddlesoftkits/critter-blankets-step-by-step.htm)
that explains how to make a larger one,
but I like the smaller size. It is great for the little kids and they can
snuggle with it at nap or bed time, or any time really.
For the blanket part I use soft fleece or that soft dimple
fabric that is popular for baby stuff these days. Any soft cuddly fabric will
work. I searched the remnant section in the fabric stores and found some nice
fabrics. And you will need a “beanie baby”. These are easy to find in thrift
stores for between $.50 and $1. Or maybe you have a huge collection of them
that you begged your mom for when you were a kid and now realize you have way
too many and don’t know what to do with them since they aren’t as valuable as
you thought they would be.
Step 1) Cut the beanie baby in half. Yes this is a little
brutal sounding, try not to laugh manically when all the bean come spilling
out. You will need to discard some of the beans and maybe some of the stuffing
so there is enough room to sew it shut and sew it to the blanket.
Step 2) Sew a basting stitch to close up the beanie baby and
seal in the beans. This stitch will give you a good guide for sewing it to the
blanket.
Step 3) Cut 2, 15x15 inch square pieces of fabric for the
blanket.
Step 4) Lay down the 2 square pieces of fabric right sides
together and pin for sewing. You will want to line up the stretchy sides of
each fabric together. Meaning, one edge of the fabric is usually stretcher than
the other. I lay the stretchy sides at the top.
Step 5) Round off 2 opposite corners of the square fabric. I
used a Martini glass as a guide to cut the rounded corner.
Step 6) On the 2 other opposite corners measure 2 ½ to 2 ¾
inches from the tip of the corner and cut straight across. This is where the beanie baby will go.
Step 7) Fit the two halves of the beanie baby on the inside
of the 2 straight cut corners. Make sure they are facing the same way. You
don’t want the beanie baby’s tummy on the top matched up with its bum on the
bottom. Then do another basting stitch to secure it to the blanket. This will
help ensure you get the beanie baby sewed to the blanket completely. I tried
sewing it by just using pins and it didn’t work so well.
Step 8) Mark a spot on the blanket where you will leave an
opening so you can turn the blanket right sides out. Make this opening on the
straight (not stretchy) side of the blanket and make sure it is large enough to
fit the beanie baby through.
Step 9) Sew around the edge of the blanket to seal it all
together using ¼ to ½ inch seam. It will get tricky when you get to the part
where the beanie baby is. Just power through it and try and follow your basting
stitch. If you miss connecting to part of the beanie baby you can always go
back and re-stitch. Do a reverse stitch on either side of the opening to secure
the stitch.
Step 10) Turn the blanket right side out through the opening
and inspect the stitching around the beanie baby. If there is a spot where you
didn’t catch it, turn the blanket inside out again and stitch over the part
where the beanie baby isn’t attached. Keep doing this until you are sure the
beanie baby is secure. It may look a little messy, but it is on the inside and
no one will see it.
Step 11) Top stitch around the edge of the blanket and seal
up the hole you used to turn the blanket right side out. This step also gives
an extra stitch to secure the beanie baby. If you are good at doing hidden
stitches to close up the hole you can skip the top stitch. But I’m not so good
at that, so a top stitch to finish off the blanket it is.
You’re done and ready to give to a baby to cuddle.