If you are like me you have tried making quilts before. Maybe yours were successful... mine... not so much! Binding is hard to work with. PLUS once I pick out the fabric that I want for my quilt I can NEVER find the pre-packaged binding to match! Rather than make my own -- which I can do, but it's tedious and time consuming -- I opted this time to go an entirely different route ... NO BINDING!!
Yep, you read that right, a quilt with NO BINDING. {Ya, I heard that audible gasp coming from all of you hardcore quilters out there!!} But wait... there's more... this quilt is made using a curtain! Yep.. a regular old curtain!
Remember
this? The Dwell Studio curtains I scored for $6 each {retail $30}. I bought all 3 even though I
knew I only needed two for the window.
Well, here's the third one put to some good use!!
Making this cute guy some actual toddler bedding has been on my TO-DO list for a while. Now that baby #3 is half way cooked, I am trying desperately to tackle my list!!! {my hubby says I'm nesting... I think I'm just being practical. Newborns are a lot of work and my office is piled high with "projects" in the works... so, I'm just jumping in!!}
I know you don't all have a cotton curtain hanging around your house... but if you are going to re-do your child's room, or put together your nursery and you are out buying new curtains for the window, pick up an extra {just make sure that the printed side is 100% cotton} and you can make your own!
Otherwise, you can simply use store bought fabric and create your own binding-less {not a real word... I know} quilt.
Here's what you need:
1-3/4 yd of cotton printed fabric for the top
1-3/4 yd of snuggle flannel for the back
batting - I buy the pre-packaged crib quilt batting
sewing machine, iron, scissors, rotary cutter, ruler, mat, thread... blah blah blah.. all the usual stuff!
Here's how to make it:
Be sure that your fabrics have all been prewashed and dried {so that is doesn't shrink with your blankets first washing -- who wants that?!?}. Then iron your fabrics.
Next {this is where your rotary cutter and mat come in handy} cut your fabrics. Cut a 37"x55" rectangle from each of your prints PLUS the batting! Yes... cut the batting too!
If you don't have a rotary cutter, you should totally get one. If you don't want to, then I hope you have a lot of floor space! Lay your fabrics and batting out on the floor and cut through all three layers {print #1, print #2, and the batting} so that they are all exactly the same size.
Next, take your bottom fabric {in my case the blue snuggle flannel} and lay the batting on top of the WRONG SIDE of the flannel.
Pin the batting to your flannel all the way around.
Now take it carefully -- so you don't prick yourself with the pins {speaking from experience on this one} -- to your sewing machine. Sew a straight stitch all the way around using the edge of your flannel as your guide. I made mine a 1/4" inseam so that I could do a finished seam of 1/2". You want this inseam to be smaller than your finished one so that you don't see your stitching.
P.S. Keep the batting on the top as you sew so that it doesn't get stuck in the walking feet of your machine!
Once you are done it should look something like this:
By sewing the batting on to the flannel you are essential holding it in place so you can finish the rest of the blanket. Now grab the top print. Lay your printed fabric on the floor PRINT SIDE UP. Then place your flannel/batting piece on top BATTING SIDE UP so that the right sides of your print and flannel are touching.
Pin all the way around, but leave a 7-8 inch opening so that you can turn your blanket right side out. I like to double pin at both ends of this opening to make sure I remember where I need to stop.
Sew around your blanket with a 1/2" inseam making sure that it is INSIDE of the batting and flannel stitching you did earlier. This way you will be turning your blanket right side out on the seam you are sewing now.
Once you are done sewing, trim the corners so that you will have square-ish corners {as opposed to a blobby corner} and turn your blanket right side out.
It can be a little tricky turning it, just be gentle of the batting and go slow if you need to.
{That's why we left a large opening!}
To help in the next sewing step, take your blanket to your ironing board and iron down all the edges. Make sure your top and bottom fabrics line up -- they tend to sit a little wonky if you just iron it as is. Take your time and really open up those seams to make your blanket look nice.
Now for that opening. As you iron, fold the two prints inward and line them up with the existing seam so that they lay straight with the edge of your blanket.
Pin it closed. This is when I like to add my tag!
To close the opening and keep your blanket holding it's nice crisp edges that you just ironed, sew a straight stitch all the way around the edge of the blanket. I made my inseam 1/4" so that I would catch all of the layers of my blanket.
When you are done your blanket will look like this:
Now you can finish it however you want. You can tie it using yarn or embroidery floss. Or if you have one of those fancy quilting machines you can use it to quilt the top of your blanket.
Why do you need to do something more?
To make sure that the batting stays in place. Even though we have sewn through it now 3 times, you need something in the middle of your blanket to keep it in place. If you choose to leave it as is, your batting will most likely tear and/or bunch up when it gets washed.
I chose to do a little bit of top stitching. I chose several hippos on my print design and sewed on them with my machine -- really wish I had one of those fancy quilting ones. These are terrible pictures.. but you can see that where I sewed the hippo shape on the top, there is a hippo shape on the bottom as well. Since the stitching goes through all layers it holds the blanket and batting together.
Now it's ready for snuggling and sleeping! It is soft and cuddly because of the flannel, and it is warm and squishy because of the batting. What more could a little guy ask for!??!
His bed will probably never look like this again .. beds in our house never seem to stay made!
{we are storing our crib mattress under his bed until we set up the new crib in the girls' room}
Here's my little guy "practicing" sleeping. He wouldn't let go of Peter Pan {his latest toy obsession} or his wand.
Here's my super helped trying to help put him to "bed".
... and here's a sneak peek at the pillow case I made to go with his quilt... more on that next week!
What is on your project to do list?
