Part 4 Felty Sweater Blanket Tutorial - Finishing up

 

 

Firstly, the irony that I almost did  not finish this 'finishing up' tutorial is not lost on me, I have been umming and ahhing about continuing with the blog after being given a sweet sewing gig that I need so much more time than I have access to. I really do love to blog so I'm toughing it out and will be trying to post once a week to get back in the swing of things. I love you guys for sticking with me when things go quiet xoxo

Moving on,

The series so far;

Pt 1 - Collecting your Sweater stash
Pt 2 - Buying and Felting your sweaters
Pt 3 - Piecing together your Blanket

Finishing your felted sweater Blanket

You arranged your patchwork strips into an arrangement you love and now need to pull this project together into something you want to throw over your chair to show off your handiwork.

Good news is that there are lots of options for finishing your blanket.

Easiest option

It's not even cheating if you just cut your lose threads and call it a day, Felted sweaters will not unravel providing they were felted enough in the first place. If when you cut the sweater pieces up they didn't run or unravel you are safe with this option.

Sure your seams will show but if you like the look of them go with it, put your feet up under your new blanket and grab a cuppa!

Intermediate Options

I backed my blanket and added batting for extra warmth, here's how.

1. With wrong sides together of your blanket and your backing fabric, stitch around all four sides leaving an opening (unstitched area) of approx 8 inches (depending on your blanket size). Back stitch either side of the opening to make sure the stitches don't pull apart during the next step.

2. Flip the blanket inside out until the right side is showing. If you choose to use batting pop it inside your blanket now, first cutting around the blanket as a template and then trimming as necessary if it doesn't lay flat inside the blanket , 1/4 to 1/2 inch should be enough.

3. Hand stitch the opening closed using a Whip stitch or any small stitches that will not easily be seen.

Note: Adding an additional layer between the batting will require some tying or quilting to secure all the layers together, this can be as simple as tying small knots or making small running stitches at regular intervals. I tied knots every corner of every square in my version.

If your fabric layers are stretching, try lowering your feed dogs or adding sticky tape to the underside of the sewing machine foot to help it move more easily over the fabric. A walking foot may also help if you have one. None of those working for you? Get handstitching, there's no shame in it!

Experienced Options

If you are no stranger to bias tape then finish this sucker off with a contrasting bias tape will really showcase your skills, bear in mind the knit fabric will have some stretch and this may require handstitching throughout.


Extra flourish

Try embroidering around the edges in Blanket stitch in a bright colour to show off your stitches, this is a nice step to take if you hand stitched the blanket together.


Coming up? I step into the world of Miniatures in my all time favourite project to date!