Pleated Ruffle Blanket

Up next is a baby blanket I made for my sister. I paired it with the Owl Messenger Bag from the last post for her baby gift.

Her nursery theme is owl/woodland creatures, so when I found this fleece at Jo Anne's I was so excited!

I paired it up with the super soft velor fabric in brown. But how to put them together... I could just make a bias tape border around the raw edges of both blankets, but I thought I would try something different.

I made 5 inch wide strips of brown satin fabric- I measured around the blanket and then made the length of the strip measure almost double the circumference of the blanket (sew together the strips and iron like you would if you were making bias tape to get it to reach the length you need). I folded over the strip so that the edge of the ruffle is going to be the folded side and the raw edge will be between the 2 pieces of the blanket.

Now, I am sure there is a more precise way to make the pleats, but I just eye-balled the spacing and it turned out fine. It does take a little time to pin all these down but it is pretty easy. Pin the border around one piece of the fleece with the raw edges of the border matching the raw edges of the fleece.

I rounded the corners making the pleating tapper to compensate for the turn (it will look fine once you flip it to the other side) After you are done pinning, sew these two pieces together. Trim the corners of the fleece.

Next lay the second piece of fabric, right sides together, on top, sandwiching the ruffle in between the 2 pieces of fabric.

Sew around the border leaving a hole so you can turn the blanket inside-out.

After you turn it inside-out, stitch the hole closed and you are done.

Adds a little something extra, doesn't it?