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Home / Kids / Baby Crafts / How to Make Fleece Blankets from Scraps

How to Make Fleece Blankets from Scraps

January 21, 2015

Our women’s group at church just participated in a little service project for the local children’s home.  When the kids leave the children’s home, they get a drawstring bag with a blanket, a stuffed animal, a book, and a hygiene kit.  We got together about a week ago to sew the bags and some blankets.  One of the women from church makes and sells fleece blankets, so she donated a huge bag of scraps for us to use.  My challenge:  figure out how to make fleece blankets from just the scraps.  So if you’ve got a bunch of fleece scraps laying around, here’s something that you can do with it!

How to Make Fleece Blankets from Scraps

Cut the fleece into 16 10 x 10 inch squares.  You can make them any size you want, you’ll just end up with a different size blanket or need to cut more or less squares.  This makes a blanket that would be a good size for a baby or toddler.  Just cut more if you want it to be bigger.  Lay the squares out in an arrangement that looks nice.  I’m a little OCD, so I always try to make a pattern.  I’ve already done some of the pinning here, but you get the idea.

How to Make Fleece Blankets from Scraps

We didn’t have any pieces that were big enough for a backing, and I didn’t want to have to piece together a front AND back of each blanket.  I could have sewn the pieces together like to you would a quilt, but then you would have a pretty front and an ugly back.  Instead, I decided to overlap the pieces about 1/2-inch and zig-zag stitch down the middle.  Keep reading to see what I mean.

How to Make Fleece Blankets from Scraps

Start by pinning and sewing each of the rows together first.

How to Make Fleece Blankets from Scraps

I did the overlapping in a pattern so that one square was on the bottom, and the next square was on top.  Take a look at the photos to see what I mean.  I didn’t really even measure.  Just try to be consistent and overlap about 1/2-inch each time.

How to Make Fleece Blankets from Scraps

How to Make Fleece Blankets from Scraps

I find it very helpful to use a walking presser foot if you have one.  It helps the thick, stretchy fabric get through the machine more evenly.  After all of the rows are done, you can pin and sew the rows to each other.

How to Make Fleece Blankets from Scraps

How to Make Fleece Blankets from Scraps

Make sure that the seams from all of the squares line up with each other.  The nice thing about the fleece being stretchy is that you can make the seams line up by giving the fabric a little tug before pinning.  Again, just a zig-zag stitch here, and I used the same pattern of overlapping that I did with the squares.

How to Make Fleece Blankets from Scraps

When all of the rows are sewn together, you’ve got your blanket.  The edges seemed to be lacking something, so I went around the outside with this curvy, decorative stitch.  You could also put some kind of binding on it.  Fleece doesn’t fray, so you could just leave it as-is if you want.

machine_stitches

How to Make Fleece Blankets from Scraps

I was a little worried how my “method” would work out, but I think the blankets we made turned out really cute.  What do you think?

How to Make Fleece Blankets from Scraps

Need more things to makewith fleece scraps?  Check out this post:

Also learn how to make no-sew fleece blankets with a braided edge.

Also take a look at How to Make a Blanket for a Baby.

You might also enjoy these other projects from Cutesy Crafts:

father's day crafts DIY Burp Cloths with Appliques Picnic Quilt Superhero Capes

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Comments

  1. Tara says

    January 21, 2015 at 7:09 pm

    I love it! What a great idea to make it so the seams aren’t sticking out on one side!

    Reply
    • Jessica @ Cutesy Crafts says

      January 22, 2015 at 7:33 am

      Thanks Tara!

      Reply
  2. EMily says

    January 25, 2015 at 1:24 am

    so cute! i love how easy that was to sew together..no wrong side or right side… would be a great beginner sewing project!

    Reply
    • Jessica @ Cutesy Crafts says

      January 25, 2015 at 8:31 am

      Thanks Emily!

      Reply
  3. Julie says

    February 20, 2015 at 5:24 am

    Jessica, Love the blanket! Was wondering how you got the corners of each block right? Your rows are sewn and it’s time to join the rows. These are the corners I am confused about. Thanks very much for the help!

    Reply
    • Jessica @ Cutesy Crafts says

      February 21, 2015 at 9:27 pm

      Not sure I really understand what you mean. I know it’s difficult on the internet. After the rows are joined, I just made sure that all of the seams from each row lined up. If they were a little “off” I just kinda stretched the fabric a little. Usually it wasn’t off by much. If there is a little bit hanging over on the ends, you can just trim off the extra fabric. Just as long as it’s not too much, it still looks ok. Hope that helps.

      Reply
  4. Sandy says

    March 11, 2016 at 1:55 pm

    Thank you for sharing, just what I was looking for. I have fleece left over from making pajamas and want to make a blanket for a child. I was going to “fagot” the pieces together but thought it may come apart too easily when I did a little test. This method should stand a child test. The edging is a great idea.

    Reply
    • Jessica @ Cutesy Crafts says

      March 11, 2016 at 7:18 pm

      Thanks! So glad it’s going to work for you! The blankets definitely seemed nice and strong after I made them like this.

      Reply
    • Margaret says

      November 10, 2017 at 2:31 pm

      I did one but I used the
      decorative wavering stitch (the same one as you did on the edge) to attach the squares to one another. Very pretty and stable.

      Reply
      • Jessica @ Cutesy Crafts says

        November 11, 2017 at 9:31 am

        What a good idea! I love the wavy stitch. Much prettier than the zig-zag.

        Reply
  5. Amy says

    October 12, 2016 at 3:53 pm

    I really like your method. It seems simply and easy enough for a beginning sewer like me to try. I have saved all of my kids (worn-out footed) fleece pjs from when they were little. We are thinking about using them to make a keepsake blanket. It should be a great project for us to do together! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Jessica @ Cutesy Crafts says

      October 12, 2016 at 9:05 pm

      Oh, what a GREAT idea! I’m over here wishing I would have saved all the jammies now! 🙁

      Reply
  6. Jean says

    November 26, 2016 at 4:48 pm

    Thinking of trying a Barbie Doll sleeping bag with some scraps. Any idea or comments. I do like your blanket! Thanks for all your great ideas!???

    Reply
    • Jessica @ Cutesy Crafts says

      November 27, 2016 at 8:36 pm

      Oh, that’s a good idea!

      Reply
  7. Sandra says

    December 6, 2017 at 10:27 am

    Jessica, did you line or back this blanket or just do the decorative stitch and leave it as it was? This is a great idea for my church youth department to do for some local children and/or adults who will be in need of this type of item over the coming (getting colder) months.

    Reply
    • Jessica @ Cutesy Crafts says

      December 7, 2017 at 6:48 am

      No lining. Just left it as-is since we only had scraps. You could line them if you wanted to, but they were fine without.

      Reply
  8. Anna says

    December 21, 2017 at 10:09 am

    Thank you so much for this amazing idea. I make items for Walter Reed Medical Center and have some scraps of fleece I wanted to use for a blanket. Been looking for ideas on how and so thankful to have stumbled up on this.

    Reply
    • Jessica @ Cutesy Crafts says

      December 27, 2017 at 10:38 pm

      So glad you found it useful! 😀

      Reply
  9. Lois Westwood says

    February 24, 2018 at 11:45 am

    how about pin cushions or bean bags?

    Reply
    • Jessica @ Cutesy Crafts says

      February 24, 2018 at 1:07 pm

      Ooh, yes those are good ideas for scraps!

      Reply
  10. Ophelis says

    January 8, 2019 at 2:25 pm

    Do you have instructions that can be downloaded?

    Reply
    • Jessica @ Cutesy Crafts says

      January 8, 2019 at 8:00 pm

      I don’t have that built into my site at this time. Sorry.

      Reply
  11. Mimi Super says

    January 21, 2019 at 1:26 pm

    Our cancer center accepts single-size quilts for people when they are there for chemo treatments. I’m going to get out all the leftover fleece I have and turn them onto colorful cozy blankets and donate to them. Great idea for overlapping the squares.

    Reply
    • Jessica @ Cutesy Crafts says

      January 24, 2019 at 9:44 pm

      What a great thing to do to make blankets for the cancer center! I’m so glad my tutorial was helpful!

      Reply

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