Recently, a good friend of mine moved from sunny Southern California to not so warm Montana. Coincidentally, it was around his birthday and I decided the perfect going away/birthday gift for those upcoming cool nights in Montana would be a fleece blanket. Since my skills are sub-par in the sewing world, I decided a no-sew fleece blanket would be the way to go. Not only is it super easy, but if you're like me and enjoy watching endless hours of Netflix, this is the perfect multi-tasking project for you! Here's how to make your very own no-sew blanket:
1. Pick your fabric
This is the best part of this whole project. You'll need two pieces of fleece- don't be afraid to try different patterns or colors together. Mixing and matching is how you get your creativity rolling! You'll need 1.5-3.5 yards (depending on the size of blanket you want) of some anti-pill polar fleece (I, of course, got mine from here). I wanted to use a pattern and a solid, and seeing as my friend is a complete cheese head (and football season is pretty much here), I used 3 yards of some NFL Green Bay Packers fleece and 3 yards of a nice yellow shade to complement it.
Once you've acquired your two pieces of fabric, you're going to want to spread them out on a flat surface and lay one on top of the other. It's important that the soft, fuzzy and brighter sides of both fabrics are facing outwards. Make sure the cuts match up at all ends and trim any uneven material off the sides. I would recommend doing this on a surface you will be able to move/crawl around. I used a large carpeted surface and was able to comfortably move quickly from one side to another.
3. Cut your squares
You're going to need to cut out squares on all 4 corners of the blanket. You'll need your scissors again- and I would also recommend a good ruler. I cut a 3.5 inch square from each corner, but if you'd like to have slightly rounder edges, I would recommend cutting about 4 or 5 inches. Make sure that you are cutting through both of the fabrics and that the two pieces are staying aligned the entire time.
4. Cut your strips
Cut strips of about 1-3 inches from each corner throughout the entire sides to the ends. I cut the strips about 3 inches because they were much easier to tie- fleece fabric is not the stretchiest material out there. The strips don't need to be perfect, but try to keep them all similar in terms of size and width. If you make a mistake (or several like I did) don't worry! The differences in the ties are not noticeable after the blanket is finished.
5. It's time to tie
You're going to be spending the next hour or so making tiny knots around the entire blanket. It's definitely time consuming, but it's also quite relaxing- perhaps even mildly therapeutic. Now is the time I recommend you turn on a nice movie or your favorite TV show and just chill out- I think I watched about 5 episodes of The League on Netflix while doing this (great show!!). There are a couple of different knots you can do. I settled for a basic double knot, but you can separate the fringes and tie them together or do a different knot of your choice. Just make sure the knots are tight enough. It's easy enough to fix if one comes loose, but it's always good to go through at the end and tug on each knot to tighten it up. Here is what the corner looks like once it's all knotted:
And here is some of the knotting on the side:
6. Show off your new blanket!
I instantly fell in love with this blanket. Because I used 3 yards, it was a good size throw and I was wishing that the weather was warmer so I had an excuse to take it out for a test drive. Hopefully, it'll keep my fellow Packer fan friend warm in Montana instead. I also appreciated how the colors complemented each other so well- the solid fleece yellow matched the yellow on the Packers fleece pretty well.
I hope this how-to was useful. I intend to contribute more to the blog, but I'm always looking for crafty ideas and how-tos. If you have any recommendations or suggestions, let me know in the comments below. And please feel free to share your blanket with us! I have a feeling I'll be making more of these around the holiday season...
Until next time, stay crafty my friends!
-Leah
The fleece used in this project can be found on our website, here.
