Kids' Simple Quilt

Kids' Simple Quilt

For the last year I’ve been debating getting Ada and Zoey a new blanket for their bed. Ever since they upgraded to toddler beds they’ve been using blankets my friend Anna crocheted for them when they were babies. The blankets are incredible and so adorable. They were so cozy when the girls were small but Ada’s been outgrowing hers and I wanted something warmer that would last both of them awhile. I’d been keeping an eye at Costco, over the summer, but their blankets were all for queen and king-sized mattresses only and when I found the throws, or afghans, they all seemed too wide in one way and too short in the other for a twin-sized mattress. I had almost given up hope I’d find something and was debating just buying an actual quilt when, back in the beginning of November, Moon Beam Textile Company had a sale on their fluffy fabric and I found the perfect stars and dinosaur fossil fabric that looked like the colors would match together. I bought six single cut yards of the fabric expecting to have a yard or two leftover and be able to sew it up similarly to the toddler toppers I bought previously through Fabriculous. When it arrived I was ecstatic that the pinks and blacks matched but was then disappointed to find it was single sided, so I couldn’t sew up a single layer for the blanket, and my calculations were wrong so I’d need most of it for a single side using three single yard cuts for each girl. I wanted to share with you how I ended up from this to the creation of these two cozy, and maybe a tad too warm, blankets.

Pinterest image showing a collage of three images and the title of the blog post. The left image is of the blanket inside out but showing how it was put together well. The right images show the yardage used, on the top right, while the bottom right image shows a closeup of the finished blankets. All images can also be found below.

My only previous experience with cozy fuzzy fabric at this point had been a fabric remnant at Joann’s and the toddler topper from Fabriculous so when the fabric (230-240GSM 100% polyester minky) arrived I was disappointed to see the fuzziness was confined to just the one side and the reverse was definitely less cozy. Though in their defense I spotted the sale right before heading to bed close to midnight so I didn’t take my time reading up on their fabric choices. I had done enough quick calculations before ordering to think I had more than enough to make two blankets and maybe have one or two yards leftover to add to a shirt or hoodie. With the change from expectation I realized I wouldn’t have enough to make a double-sided blanket and I had originally calculated wrong and would need three yards for a side rather than two. At first I wasn’t sure what to do but then decided to check out the throws at Costco one more time since it had been awhile since I’d last checked. I wanted a throw that was bigger than a twin mattress (39″ wide by 75″ long) since I could always trim it smaller if needed. I ended up finding a Mônte & Jardin embossed velvet throw for $16.99 each that was large enough to cover the kids’ beds at 60 inches wide and 80 inches long. The do not iron and do not dry clean message on the label made it so much better.

A pile of the four yards of dinosaur fossil fabric and two yards of pink stars fabric. All fabric is in one yard cuts.
I bought 6 single yard cuts of fabric. Four of which where dinosaur fossils and the other two were stars. After receiving I quickly realized the back of the fabric wasn’t soft or fuzzy. I had assumed the reverse side would be white but mistakenly thought the fuzzy softness would be double-sided.

Once I had the Costco throws prewashed, as a precaution, I was ready to start. I knew sewing three of the single cut yards together would probably be too large for the bed but figured that would be a good place to start as joining only two yards would be too short. I started by clipping and sewing the dinosaur yardage to either side of the star fabric making sure the dinosaurs on either end of the blanket were facing the same way. This meant my 6 cuts of fabric become two long blankets.

Image shows both types of fabrics but at the bottom right you see the backside of both fabric and they're clipped together right sides together.
I clipped the dinosaur fossil fabric to the star fabric, right sides together, along the long side of the fabric cuts. I did the same with the second dinosaur fabric to the other side of the stars so the stars became sandwiched between the dinosaur cuts of fabric. I then repeated this process with the other star and two dinosaur cuts making a second blanket.

My next step was combining the dinosaur star fabric with the Costco throw to create the ultimate blanket. I debated seam ripping the throw’s edge to make it thinner but as I started seam ripping the one end I had trouble seeing the thread amongst the fuzz and found, or created, a hole so I decided to leave the throw as it was instead of opening the edges. I needed space to work so I laid the throw on the ground and then laid the sewn yardage overtop to discovery they were both the same width, using the printed edge on the dinosaur and star fabric, but the newly created blanket was longer than the Costco throw. At this point I decided to sew the blanket keeping the throw’s width, minus the seam allowance, since I know the kids will bunch their blankets up anyway and if the blankets last long enough for single beds, after the current bunk beds, the sides of the blanket can drape over the sides of the bed. I then considered trimming the excess length from the sewn yardage but decided, instead, to fold over the end of the dinosaur fabric to create a double-sided top which elongated the finished blanket to be longer than the throw’s eighty inches. To do this I clipped the top of the dinosaur starred fabric to the top of the throw, right sides together, making sure to line up the top corners of the throw with the edge of the printed fabric. Since it was so wide I started by clipping the corners and the center before adding more clips to fill in the empty spaces between. I then sewed the two together essentially making a (two) really incredibly long blanket(s).

Reddish throw with a corner of it being held in my hands and a finger going through the hole in it.
I started by seam ripping the folded end open but it was hard to see the thread within the fluff. After going a couple inches I found a hole I either created without realizing or that was already there. I decided to fold the edge back down and leave it clipped in place as sewing the corner down later will keep the folded edge in place. Leaving it whole did make the edges of the blanket thicker but this way I didn’t have to spend more time seam ripping or closing holes.
This shows the wrong side of the custom yardage facing you with the top clipped to the top of the throw. The left unclipped edge is curling away from the throw while the right side is folded over showing the wrong side of the throw and, underneath it, the white selvage of the printed dinosaur fabric.
I started by clipping the top of both blankets together making sure their right side (or better side) were together. The yardage did come with a white selvage on either side which worked as the printed width was about equal to the throw so I lined up either side with the printed edge and clipped my way inward.
Flat lay showing the dinosaur fabric sewn to the bottom of the Costco throw. The original hemline adds the appearance of topstitching near the seam.
After sewing the two together I laid it out flat to check out how the seam looked from the right side.

Now that the top was sewn together it was time to lay it out and do the other three sides. I found it easiest to grab the four corners and line up the ends on top of each other, right sides together, and then lay out the rest of the blanket. This let me find the new center of the blanket as the dinosaur starred fabric was longer than the Costco throw. After making sure the blanket was flat and all the points were lined up between the throw and the printed edge of the dinosaurs and stars I used my sewing clips to attach the fabric together. This did take a lot of clips so I had to clip one blanket and sew it before I had enough clips to attach the second blanket together. Once each one was clipped I then sewed along all three sides leaving a space to turn it right side out. I wanted to leave the opening on a section where the throw was attached to the dinosaur or starred fabric so the fuzziness of the throw could hide my stitches so I ended up starting at the top of the blanket (where the dinosaur fabric is folded over), sewing down to someplace in the throw area, backstitching, jumping forward, and then sewing the rest of the way down the side, bottom, and finally up the other side until I reached the folded dinosaur edge again.

The long blanket has been folded in half, right sides together, so the new center was found and the wrong side is facing up. The folded dinosaur fabric is at the bottom of the picture where the left corner is folded over to show the reverse side and the join between the dinosaur and throw.
I carefully folded the long blanket in half, so the right sides were facing each other, and found the new center. I folded the bottom corner up to show you the reversed side, with the throw, so you know how much dinosaur fabric ended up showing on the underside of the blanket later.
Photo looks down at the wrong side of the sewn together dinosaur and star fabric. The bottom of either fabric (show at the top) is clipped together while the sides are not yet.
I then went along the bottom and then the sides clipping the two layers together. I found it easiest if I found simple points, like edges or centers, to clip and then worked my way between them.

Once the edges were sewn I turned it right side out. I was careful to use my chopstick to push into each of the four corners making sure they stuck out properly. While turning both blankets right side out I ended up ripping the hole bigger and may have also caused another minor hole in the blue throw, that I found later on, which I closed up while hand stitching the main hole closed. The fluff did a great job hiding my stitches on both blankets.

Foreground is the joining of the dinosaur top, dinosaur bottom, and fuzzy throw. The background shows the wrong side of the fabric as I was currently turning it right side out when I took this picture.
I loved how the edge of the blanket looked when the two sided dinosaur section met the throw section. I was currently turning the blanket right side out at this point and couldn’t help but stop and take a picture when I saw this.
Closeup of the opening showing a clip on either side and the opening left to be closed. The bottom is the Costco throw while the top shows the join between the starred and dinosaur fabric.
After turning the blanket right side out I found the opening and carefully used my sewing clips to close it making sure the edges lined up and were folded in properly. This made it easier to go back over and hand stitch it closed. The folded edge of the blue throw had a hole, not sure if I made it when pulling the blanket right side out or if it was already there, so I made sure to close the hole while sewing the main section closed.

Once the blanket was sealed shut I went around the outside making sure the edge was folded in the right spot while adding the odd clip to keep it in place. I then topstitched all four sides, about an inch from the edge, to hold the edges in place. I had considered hand tacking the two layers of the blanket together at this point but I’d been hiding this sew by waiting until after the kids went to bed and knew that I still had to sew more for them so I decided to leave the blankets as they were for now. I have already noticed Ada using the center of the blanket as the layers separated when she pulled on it but so far it hasn’t bugged me enough to tack it… for now. If you want more information about hand tacking I found DIY Network’s How to Make a Double-Sided Baby Blanket a helpful starting point before I decided not to pursue it yet.

A ramshackle pile of blanket. The center of the image shows the edge of the blanket running vertically through it.
The finished blanket after sewing around the edges and forgoing tacking. If you look at the edge of the pink part of the blanket you can see the black topstitching going through the dinosaurs.
Image shows the lower bunk of our bunk bed with the bed made and the corner turned back invitingly. The top of the bed shows the newly made blanket.
Perfect fit on the bed!

I was done and my kids had two really cozy blankets for Christmas day! We actually got back from LEGOLAND® on Christmas Eve and before bed Ada was lamenting at how cozy the beds were there and the awesome large pillow and blanket they had. While Matt was distracting the kids in the bath that night I quickly swapped their toddler-sized pillows with our guest pillows and the next day they got to open blankets. It was perfect timing. Even though the fabric I ordered wasn’t what I expected, I should’ve looked for more information about the fabric type, I’m so glad I ordered it as I love how the girls blankets turned out.

I hope this helps you whether you’re debating buying material to make blankets, figuring out how to make do with fabric you bought already, or just reading along. Feel free to share what you’re planning, making, or made in the comments below, on my Facebook page, or through Instagram. I hope you’re having a great day.




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