How to Sew a Blanket from Scraps

Sewing blankets is a fun and practical pastime in your spare time. You can unleash your creativity to sew a blanket to keep warm at night and leave as a souvenir for your children and grandchildren. Follow these steps to learn how to sew a basic quilt and show off your creations to friends and family!

Table of Contents

Prepare supplies

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Select the cutting tool. To create a blanket that’s flat and symmetrical, it’s important to start with evenly cut pieces of fabric. Good quality sewing tools not only make the product look more sophisticated, but also shorten the quilting time and make it easier for the uninitiated. You can use regular sewing shears, but the circular cutter is often considered the easiest and fastest cutting tool.

Circular cutters come in many sizes, but the medium is the best to start with. If you want to use regular scissors, make sure the scissors are sharp and don’t get stuck in the fabric.
Buy cutting pads . Cutting fabric on the countertop may seem like the easiest, but you can cut the tabletop and make it difficult to cut straight. To avoid this, you should purchase a self-healing cutting pad. The top of the cutting pad has a ruler printed to help you align the fabric and easily make precise cuts.

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Use ruler. Not all sizes are suitable. Long and wide rulers are best when sewing blankets. You should look for a 12×60 cm transparent plastic ruler. With this ruler, you can place the fabric between the pad and the ruler to make it easier to align. If you make a small blanket, you can use a 12×30 cm ruler.

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Prepare the base materials. Materials that are helpful when sewing blankets include knots, tape needles, and thread removers. If it is not available at home, you can buy it at stores that sell sewing supplies. Be sure to buy plenty of knots and tapes, as these are the things you’ll need a lot when making blankets.

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Select sewing thread. Sewing thread is available everywhere, but the materials and colors are different. Avoid using cheap thread that breaks easily when sewing and easily bleeds when washing. Only good quality cotton is suitable for making blankets. If you want to use a thread to sew more things, you should choose a neutral color like white, cream or gray.

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Choose fabric. The most important step when sewing a blanket is to prepare the fabric. This task can seem daunting because there are thousands of fabrics on the market. A basic blanket made of 100% cotton is usually the easiest to make, although you can also choose materials like ppyester or cotton-blend ppyester. Choose from a variety of fabrics for the front of the quilt and the hem, plus 1-2 main fabrics for the back.

Consider the color and size of the fabric. How many colors and patterns do you want to combine? Try to combine large and small patterns and different colors to harmonize.
Use creativity when choosing fabrics. Look for antique tablecloths or fabrics at thrift stores instead of relying solely on fabrics at a hardware store.
The back fabric will have to be wider than the front and quilted sheets. You need to remember this to be prepared enough.

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Buy cotton blankets. Quilted cotton is a fluffy, warm blanket material that is lined between the front and back of the blanket. Quilted cotton comes in a variety of materials, including cotton yarn, ppyester, cotton blend, bamboo yarn, and meltblown yarn. This material also comes in different thicknesses.

Over time, ppyester quilted cotton is often pushed to the edges of the blanket, while melted quilted cotton is very easy to wrinkle. People who are new to quilting should look for quilted cotton, cotton blends or bamboo fibers.
If you’re making a large blanket like a bed sheet, you should use a thick quilted duvet. Smaller blankets usually don’t need thick quilting, unless you want a really warm blanket. ^{[1] X Research Source}

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Use a sewing machine. Although you can sew the blanket by hand, it will be time consuming and laborious for someone who is not used to sewing. Use a sewing machine to sew the simplest quilt pattern; Any machine that can sew straight lines will do! Remember to prepare plenty of needles for smooth operation of the sewing machine.

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Prepare the iron. The sewing process requires several ironing of the blanket, so you need to prepare an iron (a steam iron is better). There’s no need for modern or expensive irons – just go to a thrift store and you’ll be able to find a good iron. ^{[2] X Research Source}

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Choose a blanket pattern. While there’s no need for a pattern when making blankets, sometimes it’s helpful to have a basic pattern. There are many free quilt patterns available online, or you can purchase printed books with quilt patterns at a sewing supply store. If you like to design your own quilt pattern, all you need is a piece of lined paper and a pencil.

Even if you don’t buy a book or draw a pattern yourself, it’s still a good idea to sketch out your quilt design before you start working on it.
The easiest quilt for beginners to sew is a quilt made from square pieces of fabric. It is easier to use large pieces of fabric for each square than to use many small pieces of fabric.

Start making

Wash the fabric first. While not everyone chooses to do this, pre-washing will help shrink the fabric and remove excess dye that can damage the finished quilt if left untreated. Good quality fabrics won’t fade or shrink much, but it’s still best to wash them first. This step also helps to clean the dirt on the fabric.

Is fabric. To smooth wrinkles and make cutting easier, you should use an iron to smooth the fabric. Use steam mode if available. You don’t need a quilted quilt – just smooth the front and back of the blanket.

Measure fabric. Once you’ve determined your quilt size, you’ll need to measure the size of each piece of fabric to match the size of the blanket. The hardest part of this step is remembering to leave the seam open; the pieces of fabric will be sewn together and the seam space will be 0.5 cm, i.e. all edges of each piece of fabric should be added by 0.5 cm. For example, if you want to sew a quilt with squares of 10 cm each, you will need to measure and cut 10.5×10.5 cm squares. The extra 0.5 cm will be the seam clearance.

Blanket and piece sizes may vary, unless you use a certain pattern. So you can cut pieces of fabric as big or small as you want based on your sewing skills.
If needed, you can use a washable fabric marker to mark the size on the fabric before cutting.

Cut pieces of fabric. Now you need to focus on the front of the blanket; Cut out small pieces of fabric that you will be stitching together. Spread each piece of fabric on the pad and place a transparent ruler on top. Using the circular blade cut the fabric precisely along the lines on the pad. Remember the saying “twice to measure, once to cut” to make sure not to accidentally cut the wrong one.

Fold the fabric into a blanket shape. This part is so much fun – now it’s up to you to design your blanket! Line up all the small pieces of fabric you just cut in the pattern you like. Floor stacking is easiest, as you have plenty of space to work comfortably. Be sure to line up the pattern you intend to make, even if you can then re-fold the whole thing several times.

Maybe at this point you want to add pieces of fabric in a different color or pattern. Very simple, you just need to replace some of the cut squares with other squares.
Use sticky notes or chalk to mark each piece of fabric to remember the order of the rows.

Stack the pieces of fabric in rows on top of each other. Spreading an entire large blanket on the floor can be a bit inconvenient, so it’s a good idea to stack the pieces in rows in order. You can then mark the rows with sticky notes to see their order.

Fabric grafting

Sew fabrics. Start sewing the quilt by joining the pieces of fabric row by row. Start with two square pieces of fabric at the top of a row. Put the right sides of the two pieces of fabric together, then use a straight stitch to connect the two pieces of fabric, the seam should be 0.5 cm from the edge of the fabric. Next, you will add a piece of fabric in the same row to the previous piece in the same way as above. Sew the pieces of fabric row by row into long strips.

Pin each piece of fabric together before sewing to keep it aligned.
Even seams on all pieces of fabric are key to keeping the quilt pattern aligned when finished. Make sure all pieces of fabric have a seam exactly 0.5 cm from the edge of the fabric.

Are fabrics. When the pieces of fabric are joined together, the seams on the back are raised. To make the quilt flatter and nicer when you’re done sewing, it’s a good idea to let the seams lie down. Is row by row in opposite directions; are all seams of the first row to the right, the second row to the left, the third row to the right, and so on until the end of all rows.

Sew the rows together. Sew together rows of fabric with the same technique as joining small pieces of fabric. Take two adjacent rows of fabric and place the right sides together. Sew along the bottom edge with the seam 0.5 cm from the edge of the fabric. Repeat this for each row until the front of the blanket is complete.

If the rows and pieces of fabric are not very straight, don’t worry! Even with a few minor flaws, your blanket is still adorable!

Assembled into a complete blanket

Cut the rest of the fabric. Once the front of the quilt is done, you need to cut both the quilted sheet and the back of the blanket. These sheets should be slightly larger than the front of the blanket to stretch the fabric pieces during sewing. Measure and cut the quilted sheet and the back of the blanket to a size about 5-7.5 cm larger than the front.

Fix the layers of fabric. This is the process of spreading layers of fabric on top of each other and pinning them in place before sewing. You have two options – use a tape pin to hold the pieces of fabric, or use a locating spray. Spread the layers of materials in order – the back of the blanket is on the bottom (right side facing down), followed by the quilted layer, then the front of the blanket (right side up). Line up all edges and flatten. Smooth out the creases from the center of the fabric outwards.

If you’re using locating spray, you’ll spray a thin layer of glue onto each layer of fabric before spreading another layer on top. Flatten the fabric after the glue has held the layers in place.
If you’re using a tape, you’ll need to pin the tape in the center of each piece of fabric, working from the inside out.
To be more careful, you can use both the locating and pinning methods. Thus, the fabric layers will be held more firmly before sewing.

Sew the layers of fabric together. Start sewing from the center of the blanket outwards to push excess fabric beyond the edge of the fabric instead of in the center. The easiest way to sew layers of blankets together is to “sewn down,” which is to sew inside or near the seam of previously sewn small pieces of fabric. You can also choose to sew diagonally of each piece of fabric or use freehand seams. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

If you want to make sure you’re sewing in the right place, you can use a washable fabric marker to mark exactly where you want to sew.
The more seams on the quilt, the more sophisticated your product will look. The extra seams also help keep the middle quilted layer from shifting or buckling inside the blanket.
You can sew an extra seam around the quilt once you’ve sewn the middle of the blanket.

Cut the quilt border fabric. The quilt lining fabric will trim around the blanket to protect the seams and give the blanket a more tailored look. You can choose to crop horizontally/vertically or cut diagonally. Diagonal cutting is more flexible. Cut strips of fabric (you may need to join several) that are 7cm wide and long enough to hem the entire perimeter of the blanket. Join the pieces together so that you have 4 pieces of fabric that are the same length as the 4 sides of the blanket.

It is a blanket border fabric. If you have joined several pieces of fabric into one long piece, you will now need to flatten the seams, then fold the fabric in half lengthwise and press down to create a crease in the center of the hem.

Pin to fix the border fabric. Spread the fringe fabric over the blanket, right side down. Line up the hem so the edges are in line and the right side of the quilt is facing the quilt (left side of the hem is facing up). Use multiple pins to secure.

Sew the front edge of the blanket. Sew along the quilt edge and quilt edge, 1 cm from the edge of the fabric. Sew both opposite sides of the blanket so that two pieces of the hem stick to the blanket. Then turn the hem piece out so that the right side of the quilt is on top.

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Sew the rest of the hem. Place the remaining two pieces of border fabric along the two open edges of the blanket. Do the same thing as the previous two stitches to sew along the edge of the quilt, 1cm from the edge of the fabric, then flip the hem piece out, revealing the top right side.

Fold the edge of the blanket. Turn the back of the blanket over. The edges of the quilt will rise around the perimeter of the blanket. Starting at one edge, fold the edge of the hem so it coincides with the edge of the quilt. You will then fold the rest of the border fabric over the back of the blanket. You can sew a fringe piece of fabric to create a crease, and then pin multiple pins to keep it in place. Do the same on all quilt edges.

Finish the quilt border. Sewing the quilt edge on the back is quite difficult, as the stitches will show up on the front. So you have two options for limiting visible seams: use invisible thread to sew the hem, or hand-stitch with a squeegee stitch, which avoids going through all three layers of the quilt fabric. Sew around the edge of the quilt, making sure the quilt corners are square and the stitches are even. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Advice

To make quilting easier: Cut the back of the quilt 5cm wider than the front. Fold over the front, then fold down about 2.5cm and staple again. Do it on the two long sides first. Sew the top with decorative stitches. Continue folding and stitching the other two sides, remembering to fold the corners right.
If you prefer to use stretch fabric (such as an old t-shirt), you can purchase a product that irons the fabric to help prevent it from stretching. Don’t try to sew blankets with stretch fabric.
When washing blankets, you can use a product called a mordant to suck the dye out of the fabric. So the color from this part of the fabric does not bleed into other parts of the fabric.
Maybe you should practice sewing small blankets before you move on to large blankets.
Muslin is a good choice for lining fabric. This fabric is wider, so you don’t need to splicing the fabric. Because it is cotton fiber, muslin is also easy to dye to match the color of the blanket.
Use a sewing machine presser foot so that the seams are nice and do not break the needle.
One trick when sewing a quilt by hand is to hide the knot in quilted cotton. When you have sewn all the thread or part of the blanket, you need to tie the knot close to the fabric, then pull the needle through the quilt again. Pull hard as the knot touches the surface of the fabric, and the knot will “pop” into the fabric. Then you can cut the thread close to the fabric without worrying about it coming off.
Blanket stitch frames will help in quilting. Large embroidery frames will work well. This tool stretches the fabric, keeps you from stitching up wrinkles, and keeps the fabric on your lap. After many hours of stitching, you will feel the blanket is quite heavy.

Warning

You should take a break from time to time, especially when sewing by hand. You certainly don’t want your hands and back to hurt.
If you’re using chalk to mark lines on the quilt, be sure to test it on the discarded fabric first. Chalk can stain some fabrics.
Man-made fabrics like rayon and ppyester may not wrinkle, but they won’t “breathe,” meaning the person wearing the blanket will sweat and feel suffocated. It is best to use natural fabrics such as cotton to make blankets; man-made fabrics suitable only for decorative coverings or for sewing decorative blankets only.
Sewing blankets is quite time consuming, especially when sewing by hand. You must be willing to spend time on this, or hire someone to finish the quilt. There are many people who accept to sew pieces of fabric that you have already cut.

Steps