Making a Baby Blanket from "Minky" Fabric....

If you haven't yet heard or felt Minky fabric....you really should.  This is a very, very soft fabric that is fabulous for baby's.  I decided to try sewing a Minky blanket for one of my grandchildren who arrived in the last little while.  

One of the drawbacks to sewing a 2-sided blanket with Minky is that the 2 sides will not 'adhere' to each other.  Rather, they will slide around and you will have more of a sack than a blanket if you only use Minky. So, I saw a suggestion on-line that I decided to try.  I put a third layer in the blanket. This third layer is flannel.

I laid out all 3 layers of the fabric and trimmed the edges to match each other.  I had to sew two strips of flannel to achieve a 60" width/length for this crib-sized blanket.  I then took a simple bowl and drew a curved edge on the corners.  I then trimmed all 3 fabrics.

I chose to add this simple trim around all the edges.  It is a small pom-pom trim.  I used my zipper foot and sewed it about 5/8" from the edge of one of my Minky fabrics.

To end the brim, I overlapped the end pieces and sewed back and form on the juncture to secure it.

I sewed the flannel to the backside of the other piece of Minky. See the seem on the pink piece?  This is from joining the flannel and the Minky together.  I then sewed (with right sides of the Minky together) all 3 layers together using my zipper foot.  This food edged along the trim to give me a nice clean finished edge.  I sewed around all 4 sides but left an opening of about 1 foot on the 4th side to allow me to turn the blanket right-side-out.  I then hand-stitched this section closed. 

Here is the result.  The Minky did not 'collapse' as it did before I added the flannel.  It still can slide, but it acts more like the blanket I was looking for.  

Take-away points:

• The Minky Fabric is very heavy
• The Flannel has 'tooth' to hold the 3 fabrics together somewhat.  If you wanted very little sliding you could strategically tack the fabrics together.
• The least expensive Minky fabric I found was on-line.  So check out all of your options.
• I made another blanket with a silk ruffle instead of the trim.  It was just as cute.
• You need LOTS OF PINS to hold this 'unit together.  You will not get even seams without it.
• It is so soft!  Your little ones will love it!

Try it!