DIY Vintage Sheeting Blanket Tape Trimmed Blankie

Hi guys! This week I am so excited to share a handful of new handmade gifts with you all! Today I am going to kick things off with a very cozy blanket. I am a total blanket hoarder! I am a sucker for a soft blankie and have tons of throws and cozy bedding for my home. My dogs LOVE me! I think most people love a soft blanket. So, as one of my handmade gifts this year I wanted to take a plain blanket and glitz it up a bit. So, I decided to make a blanket binding from an old vintage sheet I had laying around. It was a wonderful little touch!

Here’s What You Need:

*Blanket

*Sheet or Fabric

*Rotary Cutter and Self Healing Matt

*Ruler

*Sewing Machine and Thread

*Scissors and Straight Pins

Instructions:

To start you need to cut your strips of your sheet. Cut strips on the cross grain and 2.5″ wide. Also cut any thick finished edge off of your blanket.

Now you need to make your long strip for your binding. Take two strips and stack them at a right angle with the horizontal strips tail going left, right sides facing. Stitch together on the diagonal. Cut off your seam allowance to a quarter inch and the press open the seam. You will now have a long piece with two pieces in one continuous line. Do the same thing with your other strips until you have enough length to go loosely around your blanket us several inches.

Once you have your long strip, you need to make the binding. Fold the strip in half and press all the way down. Now line up the raw edges of the binding to the raw edge of the blanket. Leave a tail of about 6″ or so and start stitching the binding to the blanket using a qaurter inch seam. Stitch the binding all the way around until you get about six inches or so from where you started. Leave a long tail and clip.

Now take the two tails and lay one flat on top of the other. Mark where they will need to be stitched together so that the binding ends will lay flat. Open up the binding and stitch it together.

Then fold the stitched ends back in half and then line up the edges with the blanket and stitch down the last part.

Now fold over the binding to the oposide side of the blanket encasing the raw edge. Pin or clip in place. The proper way to finish the binding is to stitch in the ditch on the first side catching the binding ends on the other side and this looks seamless and lovely. I am too lazy for that, so I stitch on the back side where I can see my loose ends and know that I am stitching them down so I don’t have to go back and restitch areas. Once you have stitched the binding closed, clip any excess threads and then you are done.

I think my blanket turned out pretty darned cute! I love the print of the sheet and how it really adds a whole lot of sweetness to my blanket. Making your own blanket binding is really easy and fun! I had a blast making this blanket for one of my favorite people! I hope you all will give this a try sometime with your own blanket or for a wonderfully soft gift for someone you love! I’ll be back tomorrow with another handmade gift to make. Until then…

Happy Crafting!