Ruffled Minky blanket

We have had this blanket in the shop for a while, and I am still so in love with it. It's easy to make - here's how!

Materials:

1 1/8 yard minky

1 1/4 yard print

1 1/8 yard stripe

Wash and dry fabric. Minky should be washed in cold. Press. Cut print and minky into a 40x45" piece. Be aware that minky makes a mess when you cut it. I rounded my corners with a dinner plate as my template.
I chose to have a really ruffly edge. to figure out how many inches I needed, I did math like this: 40+40+45+45= 170. I then doubled this number (=340) to determine how much to cut. I ended up with 9 strips, 4" wide each (42" long after washing). That gave me a total of 378". If you don't want it to be quite so ruffly, maybe cut your strips 3 1/2", or cut less strips.

Sew ruffle strips together on the diagonal to create one continuous loop of fabric. Trim 1/4" away from the seam and press open. Iron entire loop in half - you will have a LOT of fabric.

Because you are working with this many inches, I chose to not do the gathering stitch on my machine. Instead, I took a large safety pin and placed it in my striped fabric. I then placed one on the opposite side. Find the middle between the pins you have placed, and add another pin (both sides). I chose to do this one more time, adding a smaller safety pin this time. You should have a total of 4 large and 4 small evenly placed pins.

Now, using straight pins, pin striped fabric to print fabric corners, matching up large safety pins in the corners. Match small pins with the middle of each side of fabric. From here, I just eyeballed the middle of the stripe with the middle of the print and pinned. And pinned. And pinned. I used all but two pins I own. I had a pin about every 3", it will look something like this:



Now for the sewing: I did a 3/8" seam allowance. Start on a straight side and "gather and smoosh" (technical terms) the fabric with your fingers between the pins. This takes a little getting used to, but the idea is easy, casual ruffles. Continue all the way around.

To assemble, lay minky right side up on carpet. Because minky has one way stretch, carpet helps hold it while you pin. Lay your print right side down on top of minky. Start pinning in corners, then straight edges. Again... lots and lots of pins. All of them.Be sure to double pin a start/stop 10" hole to turn blanket through on a straight side.

Sew with minky side on the bottom. Your feed dogs will help guide the minky through. I used a 1/2" seam allowance for this. Take your time with minky - it pays off.
Almost done! Turn blanket right side out through opening.

I used a straight stitch to topstitch. A zig-zag would also look neat. I only pinned the opening, the rest didn't need it and went pretty quick. Again, sew with minky on the bottom.

Clip your threads and cuddle up!