Cozy Quick Blankie | Purl Soho

When my daughter, Coco, was born, one of my friends gave her an incredible hand-me-down blanket made of cozy, natural cotton fleece on one side and lovely, soft chambray on the other. It is trimmed with ric rac which gives it just the right amount of playfulness. Coco is now three and she still loves this blanket as do I.

Since receiving this hand-me-down, I have always had that nagging feeling that I should probably return it to my friend sooner rather than later. Because Coco and I BOTH love it so much, I knew this would be a sad moment. What a dilemma!  Solution- I decided to make one of our own.

I adore the Organic Cotton Sherpa from Michael Miller that I used to make this blanket. It’s cozier than you can imagine and so natural in both look and feel.  You’ll love putting it next to your child’s skin.  I chose a cheery, lemon yellow shot cotton for the back with tan ric rac for the edge to create a warm, gender neutral palette that everyone will love.

P.S. If you love the print in the background as much as I do, you can see more work by the artist Tess Darrow at her website, Egg Press.

Materials

Cozy Quick Blankie | Purl Soho

  • 1 yard Rowan Shot Cotton in lemon
  • 1 yard Michael Miller Organic Cotton Sherpa in natural
  • 4 yards Jumbo 3/4-inch Ric Rac in tan
  • 1 small spool Gutermann 100% Cotton Thread colors 1105 and 1640
  • Walking foot for your sewing machine

Pattern

Cozy Quick Blankie | Purl Soho

This blanket is a 32-inch square when finished.

Pre wash, dry and iron both fabrics.

Cut the shot cotton to a 32-inch square.  Cut the fleece to a 31 3/4-inch square (it is smaller than the shot cotton to allow you to see where you are placing the ric rac in the step below).  If you need help with this step, please see our Rotary Cutting tutorial.

Cozy Quick Blankie | Purl Soho

In order to sew the ric rac inside the seam you must carefully line up the ric rac between the fleece and the cotton.  To do this, place the shot cotton on a surface with the right side facing up.  Place the ric rac around edge of the cotton with the tips of the ric rac lining up exactly with the edge of the cotton.

Cozy Quick Blankie | Purl Soho

See how we’ve turned the corner with the ric rac which makes a neat edge once turned right side out.

Place the fleece on top of the cotton and the ric rac with the right side facing down.  Since you have cut the fleece smaller than the cotton, it will expose 1/8-inch of the shot cotton and ric rac on all 4 sides so you can make sure everything is still lined up before sewing.

Cozy Quick Blankie | Purl Soho

Pin the cotton, ric rac and fleece together every 3 ric rac tips.  In my opinion you can never use too many pins when doing this kind of technique!  Another note:  I learned to put the pin heads to the left of the sewing machine foot, but its perfectly correct to place them to the right as well.

Make sure you remember to put the walking foot on your machine at this point since the fleece is knit and will stretch and gather without it.  The walking foot works wonders!

Now sew a 1/4-inch seam using a basic straight stitch. The goal is for the seam to go exactly down the middle of the ric rac so half is exposed when you turn it right side out.

You will need to leave an opening of approximately 6-inches to turn the blanket right side out.  Make sure you back stitch on both sides of the opening to make this area strong when turning right side out.

Snip the corners before turning right side out to avoid bulky, messy looking corners.

Turn blanket right side out.  Push out the corners with your finger so that they aren’t too blunt.

Cozy Quick Blankie | Purl Soho

At the 6-inch opening, fold both fleece and cotton under to create a 1/4-inch hem, tuck the ric rac into place.  Iron the hems so they stay put.  At the same time, iron the entire blanket so that the edges are crisp to prepare for top stitching (which makes the ric rac stand out more)

Cozy Quick Blankie | Purl Soho

Pin the fleece, ric rac and cotton together.

Cozy Quick Blankie | Purl Soho

Sew with the fleece side facing up, and top stitch around all 4 sides.  Remember to thread the machine with natural color thread to match the fleece on top and have yellow thread in the bobbin to match the cotton side underneath.  I recommend top stitching approximately 1/4-inch in from the edge.  When you reach the 6-inch opening that you left to turn the project right side out, top stitch approximately 1/8-inch from the edge so that you are catching the ric rac as you go along. ( I recommend just gradually decreasing the top stitch distance from the edge as you get closer to the opening and then gradually increase the distance after you pass the opening.)

Iron the entire blanket and it’s good to go.  Enjoy!

Cozy Quick Blankie | Purl Soho