September 26, 2013

BEANIE BABY BLANKET

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.






3 comments:

Ethne @ Wom Mom Blog said...

So cute!! Thanks for the guest post, Jen! ~Ethne

Reagen said...

Love the beanie baby chopping photo :)

shaan watson said...

Mini crib sheet set Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with extra information? It is extremely helpful for me.