It’s January, so you know what that means. It’s time to retreat to our beds and cuddle up! In honor of hibernation season, I’m coming to you with a very fun, simple DIY project: making no-sew blankets!
No-sew blankets were big when I was 13 (or maybe I just thought they were). I grew up with an older next-door neighbor who introduced me to the beauty of JOANN Fabrics. We used to regularly make trips to get different materials and make these super easy, mostly child-friendly crafts. Back then, the process of making these felt tedious and long. They still are, but it’s much more manageable as an adult. It takes two hours instead of two days. We’re going to keep it very, very simple here. All you’ll need is two different fabric patterns, a good pair of scissors, and a ruler.
How To Make a DIY No-Sew Blanket
The first thing I did was go to a fabrics store. Upon entering, you will inevitably see a fabric section with a million eye-catching patterns. Once you find the rolls of fleece, go wild! Search like you’re on Project Runway!
You’ll need two different fabrics, so choose whichever two you’d like. You don’t have to restrict the fabric to just fleece. but if you’re just starting your journey with us in DIY land, I’d recommend sticking to fleece.
I’ve done a million fleece blankets and sometimes the texture of fleece rubs me the wrong way, so I opted for one side of fleece with one side of non-fleece. Whales are my favorite animal, so I obviously went with the fleece whale pattern.
In a non-fleece section, I found this very soft baby blue fabric. I prefer coordinating my patterns together, but you can pretty much do whatever you want.
Once you find two rolls you like, you’ll take the roll up to the cutting counter where you can tell them how much you want. They only measure in yards, so you might need to do some converting. Or, if you’re like me, you can just eyeball it. I went with 2 ⅓ yards, but next time I might go a bit bigger. You pay for the fabric per yard, so that’s also an important factor in choosing how much you want. The width will be the same for the whole roll (this one was 57 inches), so you’re only adjusting the length. Make sure to have them cut the same yardage for both of your patterns.
Once you’re ready to start the crafting, you’ll want to determine which sides of the fleece you want facing outwards. Lay your fabric on top of each other, so that the outward-facing layers are the ones that will actually make up the blanket. If you notice that the two fabrics don’t completely line up, go ahead and cut off any leftover fabric so they match up.
The most important rule to follow is not to move the blankets once they are aligned!! Once you’ve placed the fabrics in their spot, they should not move until you’re completely done with the project.
You’ll start by cutting out the corners. Now that we’re ready to start cutting, on each corner measure out a 4-inch square and cut this out.
Once the corners are gone, it’s time to start cutting tassels!
You’re going to cut the edges of the blanket on all four sides into strips. They should be roughly one inch wide and match the four inch height we already marked by cutting out the corner squares. You will make many, many, many cuts. This part takes the longest and could be rough on your hands, so make sure to take breaks.
Tie the strands together in a double knot. Once you’re finished with an edge, or even half-finished, you can go in and start trying the bottom and top strands together in a double knot.
Make sure to leave the two strips next to each corner unknotted until you’ve cut most of the sides. Once you tie the corner pieces, the few inches around the corner will curve in, and that might throw off the measurements for your cuts.
Make these one inch cuts and double knot ties around all sides of the blanket. As you tie these cuts together, the two fabrics will become one thick, warm blanket.
Once you’re finished tying, you’re done! There may be some fabric straps lying around so I like to shake out the completed blanket before I throw it on the couch.
Congrats! You made a super easy, cozy DIY no-sew blanket to throw on your bed or give to your winter snuggle buddy.
I love making these! Inspired to make a whale one for myself
I used to make these as christmas gifts until all the studies about the absurd amount of microplastics fleece sheds every single time you wash it. Now i just feel super conflicted about whether i should keep the two i still have putting microplastics into the water everytime i wash them or if i should throw them out and adding more plastic to landfill :(
I’ve heard about some laundry bags you can buy that catch microplastics and keep them from going into the water! I haven’t tried them yet but thought I’d pass it on :)