Tutorial: Picnic Blanket

Who doesn’t want summer to get here fast? One of the lovely things about summer is spending so much time outside and that means picnics!

Make this homemade picnic blanket to match your style, decor, or as a lovely summer housewarming gift.

What You Need

4 yards of fabric that is at least 60 inches wide
coordinating fabric – 1/4-1/2 a yard
8 inches of tongue and groove velcro
matching thread
machine

Step One

Your first step is to wash and dry your fabric. This is important that way it’s preshrunk…moreover, you’ll most likely be washing this blanket a lot! For this project I used some heavy home decor fabric I found in the bargain bin – it was 2$ a yard, so the cost of this project is about 9$ with thread and the additional piece needed (I just used some scraps – putting scraps to use feels so awesome!).

Lay your fabric out – all 4 yards and cut in half. Put right sides together and serge or top stitch leaving a hole big enough to turn right side out. If you want, you can also use two different fabrics, one for each side…keep in mind they may wash/shrink differently, thus pre washing is super important.

Step Two

Once you’ve turned your project right side out, fold in the hole and pin. Top stitch about 1/2 an inch in all around the blanket. Don’t forget your label!

Step Three

Now, you’ve got the blanket, yet we’re going to make a little extra piece to keep it all nice and neat. Roll your blanket up and measure the circumference around it. Add 4 inches. That will be your length. My width is 10 inches – you can make it smaller or larger if you wish.

Put right sides together and serge – leaving a small hole to turn it right side out.

Step Four

Now, once it’s right side out, fold in the hole and pin. Top stitch all around just like you did on the blanket. Now, get your velcro pieces ready. The first piece is the catch side (not the rough side) put it on the end about 1 inch from the edge. Top stitch all around. On the other end, but the other side of the other end (that way it closes around the blanket) place the rough side of the velcro and top stitch all around.