Summer Picnic Blanket:: Tammy from She Wears Flowers
Hi Crafting Chicks readers! I am so excited to be here today. This is one of the first craft blogs I ever discovered and I feel kinda special being here today! I’m Tammy and you can usually find me crafting up something or another at She Wears Flowers. I have 3 girls (10 year old twins and a 3 year old) who keep me pretty busy sewing and creating fun things for them. Sewing is one of my favorite things to do, but I am always willing to try other crafty stuff. I like simple and quick over just about anything else and you can find lots of simple and quick craft tutorials on my blog (even boy stuff! ;).
Today’s craft is also a simple and quick one. I realized I needed a picnic blanket. You know—the blanket that is always in the car and you can pull it out for all kinds of things. Some friends had a good blanket at the park a while ago (one of our rare spring days—sheesh! What is up with the weather this year?) and it was perfect when we ran out of seats at the park tables. I wanted a blanket, too, but I didn’t have one I could recycle. So I decided to recycle some other stuff to make this. It’s easy (of course!) and quick (even better) so grab your stuff and let’s make one!
Materials
ripped or holey jeans
cotton fabric
Heat n Bond Ultra (no-sew double sided fusible webbing)
flat sheet
masking tape
Instructions
A couple of things before we start: You can make this blanket any size you want using the same instructions. As long as you measure your pieces carefully and add your seam allowance (I used 1/4 inch seam allowances), it will all match up. And, as I made this, I realized that it was almost exactly what I did for a monogram pillow HERE, so I am going to use those pictures for the beginning because the pillow is small enough to fit in a picture and the blanket was too big! Please don’t get confused by the different fabrics—the concept is the same for both things.
Sew everything with 1/4 inch seam allowances unless otherwise stated.
Cut all fabrics
sheet
2 long borders (top and bottom)
2 short borders (sides)
ants with HnB backing (around 15)
Decide how big you want your blanket to be and cut the sheet to that size. Remember you will be adding a border, so be sure to factor that amount in to your size. I just cut my sheet to 5 feet by 4 feet and added the border to that.
Cut 2 side border strips the length of the sides of the sheet and the desired width of your border piece plus a seam allowance (1/4 inch) and a hem width (1/2 inch is fine for this).
Cut top and bottom border strips the same width as the side border strips. The length will be the same as the side border strip length plus the width of the side border strip 2 times. So, if the length of the side strip was 50 inches and the width was 5 inches, your top and bottom strips would be 50 + (2 x 5) for a grand total of 60 inches. It will probably be slightly longer than you need, but you can easily trim it before you hem the edges.
Print ant pattern onto cardstock and cut out. (I made a wonky ant so it wouldn’t look too creepy!)
(Click to enlarge pattern and print OR copy it into a photoediting program to adjust the size of the ant.)
Cut apart the legs of your old jeans. I kept the pockets intact so I can use them for something else. Just cut along a leg seam and across the other side.
Cut Heat N Bond (HnB) so that it fits along the jeans fabric. I did half at a time and ignored the seam in the middle of the jeans.
Iron it to the back of the jeans fabric following the manufacturer’s instructions. Do not peel off the paper backing.
Trace the ant pattern directly on the HnB paper backing.
Cut out the ants.
Remove paper backing.
Sew borders to sheet.
With right sides together (RST), sew side borders to each side of sheet.
Press seam flat with seam allowance facing the outside edges (under the border not the sheet).
With RST, sew long borders to top and bottom of sheet. Trim any excess edges so everything lines up.
Be careful when sewing over a seam to keep it flat.
Press seams to outside edges again. Press seams from the top, too, so everything is smooth.
Hem the edges all the way around by turning in 1/4 inch and pressing, then turn in another 1/4 inch and pressing in place. Sew in place.
Adhere the ants to the blanket.
Spread the blanket out on a large surface or the floor. Lay the ants on the blanket with HnB side facing down. Tape the ants to the blanket so they will hold as you move it around on your ironing board.
Following manufacturer’s instructions, iron the ants to the sheet. (To be honest, I always use a steam iron even though it says not to—it gets much hotter than the dry iron and I think it holds better.)
Now your blanket is ready for a picnic!
Find the nearest shade tree, grab your lunch and enjoy!
Find the nearest shade tree, grab your lunch and enjoy!
I’m hoping the blue jean ants will scare the real ants away–at least these ants are cute!
Thank you, Crafting Chicks, for having me as a guest on your blog today—what an honor!
I hope you will all stop by and visit my blog to see the other projects I have going on!
Oh, this really makes me wish I could sew!!! Such a cute and practical idea…and it looks easy (seeing you demo it). Happy summer picnicking!
Thanks for having me as a guest today–what fun for me!
So cute and great way to use extra fabric. Question: I see you used a serger and I have been shopping for one but find it confusing. I want something easy to use (i.e. figure out!). Do you have any suggestions? Thanks!
Too cute! I love the ants. Just perfect!
question…is there anything on the back of this blanket or just open seams?
Thanks
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This is an adorable blanket. If I had patience for sewing (ok, it’s not really the sewing, it’s more of the cutting, aligning and pinning) I would love to make this! Such a cute way to upcycle!
amei, mesmo sem saber ingles, compreendi e consegui fazer o trabalho. muito obrigada pela sua generosidade em compartilhar.lidia.