Flannel Baby Blanket

I'm really on a baby kick here lately.

I feel bad though.

When I was pregnant last year there were so many things I wanted to make for my baby, but I just didn't have the time or resources to get much done.

I think I'm making up for not making my baby as much stuff by making stuff for others :)

I found this adorable soft flannel fabric at my mom's house and knew I wanted to make something with it.

 My sister-in-law is pregnant with a boy, so I had an idea for a baby blanket, one you could use to lay on the ground if your at someone's house, or outside on the grass.

So this is what I came up with...I think I this project only took me about 35-40 minutes.

I have a lot of step-by-step pictures for you, and I will try my best to describe how this all comes together :)

To make it easier, I will refer to the fabrics as 'the animals' and 'the stars'.

When I found this fabric the animals measured at 46"x44" and the green stars measured at 36"x44" (but I ended cutting that one, I will explain in a bit).

To start out, I laid out the animals facing up and folded over 5" on every side.

 At each corner I then unfolded the fabric and pulled the point out.

 I then lifted the corner up and pressed it together all the way down to make sure it was touching at the base...so it looks like a triangle...if that makes sense.

 Then fold the 'triangle' over and lightly press with an iron to get a crease.

Pin along the crease.

 Here is showing you the back of the pins on the other side of the triangle.

 Do this to all 4 corners.

 Sew only along the crease lines.

Starting at the folded side and making your way along the crease.

Don't sew all the way to the end of the crease line though, you want to leave a small opening.

Here is the line I sewed along the crease.

 Then, cut off the excess 'triangle' part.

 Turn the fabric out the right way and you should have nice, even corners.

I did grab my iron and press down the corners really quickly to give it a nice crisp look.

 Here is a full size shot for you.

So the stars fabric was originally 36"x44" so I cut it down to 29"x27" so it could fit nicely into the animal fabric.

 I then tucked the stars fabric underneath the edges of the animals like so...

 Next, I went around the whole thing and tucked the animals back under about 1/4" and pinned it around the whole blanket, through all of the layers, just so it didn't have a raw edge.

Remember earlier how I said to not sew all the way to the edge of the triangle part?
It's because as you are going around to fold under the animals you have to have a little extra fabric at the corners as well to tuck under...I hope that makes sense...

 I then sewed a straight line around the whole blanket right along the edge of where the two fabrics met.

 Here's what the stitch looks like.

 And here we have our finished product!!

I was pretty excited that I was able to make it how I had pictured it in my head!

The finished size ended up being 36"x34".

 Here are some closeups so you can see more of the detail, just to help you understand what I did.

 

This is what the under side looks like.

You won't be able to see the diagonal lines on the corners, but you will be able to see the straight line all the way around. 

                            

 I had to put my little chunk on the blanket to give you an idea of the size :)

I think he wants one of his own :)

Let me know if you have any questions!