Remember those fleece no-sew blankets?

[piratesmate]

Over the past 2 years, I've seen a number of posts about those no-sew fleece blankets. I've made them for both of my kids. A couple of months ago, DD saw in the American Girl magazine directions for making a pillow in essentially the same way.

She's been making them herself (she's 12) ever since for b'day presents for her friends. It's become a "squealer" present....The girl receiving it, squeals with delight & says "I was hoping you'd make me one!"

The only thing is (from an adult perspective) that because the directions don't call for you to cut slits & tie the fringe through them, tiny bits of the white pillow form tends to show through. We found a way around this, though. Wal-Mart didn't have pillow forms once, so we walked down to where they keep their throw pillows. They were actually cheaper than the forms and because we bought a dark one, you couldn't tell that the sides of the fleece didn't meet exactly.

 

[WendyZ]

Ooooh...does anyone happen to have those directions for those blankets? My DD wants to make one and I don't have the directions. Also, are there directions for the pillow? That would be a great to have a set.

Thanks for any help you can lend!!
Wendy

 

[piratesmate]

Directions for the blanket can be found in this thread.

If the first description isn't enough, scroll down to Rajah's post. She has a link to directions she wrote that includes pictures.

For the pillow:
Buy the fleece 8 inches larger than the pillow. (You're making 4" fringe.)
Trim the fleece so that you have 2 pieces of equal size - 4 inches larger than the size of the pillow.
Cut 4" squares out of each corner. (See blanket directions.)
Cut along each side (top & bottom) up to the pillow form. I find it easier to cut them 2ce as wide as I want & then cut them in half so I'm sure to have an even number.
Put the pillow in between the 2 pieces of fleece.
Tie the first fringe piece on top to the first on the bottom. (Tie a double knot - we don't usually use a square knot as the fringe kind of splays open.)
We do each side of the 4 corners before finishing the sides. This helps keep the pillow from slipping.

Seriously, my directions stink - you're better off reading the ones in the other thread.

edited to add - You don't really need an even number of fringe pieces for the pillow - because you tie the top to the bottom. For the blanket it's necessary as the top is smaller & all fringe comes from the bottom. DUH!

 

[WendyZ]

OH Thank You!!! I just told DD...she is so excited!!!

 

[Mickey527]

I saw the directions to these in my local Walmart. Walmart also has some really cute Pooh and Mickey fleece.
but I can't make them. I have 4 cats and 2 dogs in my house and EVERYTHING is covered in cat hair. I had to get rid of a beautiful fleece Mickey sweater that I loved because I couldn't clean off all the cat hair and it looked like a fur coat.
Good luck to all of you who make these, they look like they would be toasty warm. Peggie

 

[eeyoreforever]

I must be in the dark ages because I had never seen or even heard of these before. I just looked at Rajahs instructions-with pics and now I've got to go find some fleece. Great instructions! I think I'll try to make each of my dd's a blanket and a pillow for Christmas. Can't wait to get started, but once again, my poor scrapbook is going to get shoved aside. Thanks for the info!

 

[pas2]

My girls made the pillows for christmas presents and they were a hit. They have been begging me to buy fleece that coordinates with their rooms (what ever that might be) so they can make some to keep. piratesmate your directions were just fine. I did make a cardboard template of the 4" square to make it easier for them to cut the corners and as a cutting depth guide for the fringe.

 

[piratesmate]

pas2 - Instead of using a template for the corners (which is a great idea!) we've been using that little hem gauge I have for sewing. I don't know what it's actually called, but it's about 6" long & has a red slider in the middle so that you can keep hems even the whole way around. D'ya know what I mean?

We do that because we're cheap! Sometimes the fleece is cut wider than we want for some reason. Then we just make the fringes longer instead of wasting the fabric.

As a neat by-product, I've learned that it's good mental exercise for DD to have to figure out the adjustments every time she makes a pillow. She's very bright, but has learned some lazy thinking habits - she rarely has to think about things at school.

Oh - I don't know what matching fleece might be, but we've been able to find tie-dyed and, more recently, what I would call "60's psychodelic" . . . . peace signs, the word "love", wild colors, etc. These have been great for DD's 12-14 yr old friends. I bought some with whales & dolphins for DD last year for a blanket, but haven't seen it since to make a matching pillow.

 

[believe]

My SIL gave me a book last year that had several fleece projects in them. I think one was a shaw. She received the magazine/book from Hancock's for free. Just thought I would let you know there are other projects to work on...when the pillows are finished.