Tutorial: Receiving Blankets

What is a receiving blanket? It’s a basic multi-purpose blanket used in a baby’s life – you can use it to keep the baby warm, use it to lay down on a bed if you need to change the baby at a friend’s house, or even use it as a little cushion for tummy time. Knowing that new moms might not have a lot of time to do laundry, I made two.

What You Need

• 2 pieces of fabric that measure 30×40
• coordinating fabric if you’re making stripes, or an accent like I did
• machine
• matching thread
• iron

First – pick fabric that matches. You’ll notice this fabric from the shopping cart cover sewing project – this will help make a little set.

If you’re going to make accents like I did, just ensure your final measurements are the same as the backing.

Now, I didn’t want to have the seam of the accent fabric curl or move – I wanted to use it as an opportunity to draw in the deep grey colour of the waffle fleece backing. Top stitching the seam – yes or no? Just like most sewing projects, I tested the idea first – looks good, so I went for it.

Now, with right sides together, serge the sides – be sure to leave about 6 inches to turn the blanket right side out.

Turn the blanket right side out. Press and top stitch all around the outside, being sure to close the hole you used to turn the blanket right side out.

Done!

Keep the baby warm or use it as a play mat…heck, you could even use it to clean up, in a pinch. They wash well, when the new mom gets around to laundry, anyway.

See you again this weekend for the last little project in this set, then 7 more tutorials still to come!