Learn to Make Dot Chenille Baby Blankets

Betsy — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:21:38 +0000

Chenille blankets

Today I want to show you how you can make in a very easy way a simple soft and cozy dot chenille baby blanket. This method is going to seem a piece of cake for experienced sewers and even beginners.

You are going to need:

a sewing machine
thread
soft and comfortable chenille fabric – two pieces, one yard each (in different colors, if you want)

First of all, wash the fabric and dry it on a normal cycle. Next step is to lay one piece of fabric with the textured side facing up, like in the picture.

The other piece of fabric has to be laid facing down on top of the first one and make sure that you align them so they are perfectly one on top of each other, but with the “good“ sides facing each other.

With a pair of scissors or a very sharp rotary knife trim the edges of the fabrics so that it will have matching-up straight edges and then pin around them to keep them together.

Using a sewing machine make 1/2 inch seams around the outside of the square, but on one side, leave an opening of about 10 inches.

Pink chenille blanket

By reaching in through that opening, pull out the blanket’s ”good” sides out. If you have to push the corners out, you can use a long spoon handle, for example.

Now it’s time to close the opening. You can do that by, of course, sewing it with the sewing machine, but make sure that the difference is not visible, because, remember, now the sewed part that we made in the beginning is now on the inside of the baby blanket.

For the grand finale, you can sew a steam of about a half of inch around the side of the blanket and make look as pretty as possible.

Once this is done too, you can tie the baby blanket with a ribbon and that would make a great present for a new mom. Out of all the baby blankets she will receive, I guarantee that this one she will like the most!

Jennifer, Salt Lake City, Utah: Yes, these are one of my favorite baby blankets. They are soft, cozy and my little Daniel simply adores them!

Corinne, New York: I tried this method also and it is indeed very easy to make. I do not have a lot of experience with the sewing machine, but I was able to manage it. And when I offered the baby blanket as a gift at a baby shower, the mom was delighted.

Danielle, Columbia, South Carolina: I gave birth to a baby girl two months ago and I got many blankets like this one. They are excellent, It’s all I can say!

Learn How to Blanket Train Your Baby

Betsy — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:04:08 +0000

Blanket Train Your Baby

Every mother want’s their babies to sit still, maybe take a nap and not cry, especially when they are in public places, like church, on a plane or bus. Well, guess what? You can train them to do that. Using their baby blankets. In this post, we want to show you a method on how to blanket train you baby that worked for a lot of mommies.

Baby blanket training steps

What you have to do first is choosing a comfortable blanket. Try using the same blanket for all the training sessions until your child grows a little bit older. That way, he will develop a reflex and he will know when he sees that particular blanket that it’s time for him to sit still.

Now you have to choose some toys that your baby loves. Make sure that they don’t make any disturbing sounds. Have a bag full of them, because children love diversity. Also, use those toys only when you blanket training him.

The training process should begin at an early age. When he is old enough to check out his surroundings, you can put him on the baby blanket, where he should spend a good amount of time. But when he grows older, don’t over react, or he will get easily bored and start crying. More important is for him to take walks and learn new stuff then sitting still on a blanket, isn’t it?

Every day, you should put him on the blanket and give him the quiet toys that he likes. You can also try putting him to sleep (sing to him or simply talk). That way he will later associate the blanket with sleeping time.

You will have to repeat these steps for a long period of time. Remember that he is not able to understand what you want from him at a very early age, but if you have patience, results will show up in the end. Of course, he will want to get off from the baby blanket when he will be able to crawl, but you can always put him back on it and tell him “no“. In time, he will figure out that the blanket is the place where he has to stay:).

Here are some extra tips about blanket training

Results only come if you are consistent. It is not something that happens over night, so be patient. Do not force your baby, do not get angry so he will do things because he is frightened and do not ask him for things that he can’t accomplish just yet.
Is is a lot more difficult to blanket train a one year old baby. So, start the training when he is a only a couple of months old.
If you want your baby to sit still at church, create a similar environment. Play a CD with religious music and set up some chairs next to the blanket.
Remember that baby blankets training also depends on the baby’s personality, so results may vary.

We wish you all the best of luck and feel free to tell us if these methods worked for you. If not, what did?