Simple Blanket Stitching Tutorial

Here's a little tutorial I wrote up for The Button Up Bolero. I wanted to post this just in case anyone wanted to brush up on their blanket stitching in advance!

The pictures are small so this won't be a mile long, but you can enlarge them if you need to.

1. Cut a strand of embroidery floss that is as long as you think you can handle. It will go fast. Then thread the whole strand of embroidery floss through your needle. Tie a knot at the end.

2. Choose where you will begin stitching.

Working from the back, stick your needle only part-way through the fleece and then up and out from the edge, so that your first stitch is inside the fleece.

View from the front, see how the needle didn’t go all the way through the layer of fleece?

Pull the needle and thread through. On the back you will see the thread knot.

3. Now poke your needle down in from the front in the same spot as your thread knot.






When the loop is almost tight, slip your needle through it so that when you pull it tight, your thread end is still coming from the fabric edge.



4. Now move about a centimeter away from your first stitch and make another stitch, still working from the front.

Just before you pull the fabric tight, stick your needle through the thread loop from the back to keep the thread end running along the fabric edge.
 
 
 
 
  

 

5. Repeat step 3 above until you come to a stopping point or are almost out of thread.

6. To tie off, just make a little knot on the back of the stitching and slip the end under a stitch or two.






7. To start again in the same place (because you needed more thread), prepare your thread as in step one and poke your needle through the back at the bottom of your last stitch.



Run your needle under the last horizontal thread segment so the thread will come from the fabric edge again.

  

 
  8. Continue blanket stitching around until all edges are finished, or at least all of the edges that will show.

My First Giveaway - How did you learn to sew?

I think everybody I have talked to about sewing knows what a big fan I am of YouCanMakeThis.com. A couple of my friends have asked me to teach them how to sew, and I told both of them, "find a pattern you like on YouCanMakeThis.com, and then come over and we'll sew it together." The patterns all come with step-by-step photographed instructions that make it impossible to fail. And they are up-to-the-minute cute.

So anyway, for my first giveaway, I'm going to choose two lucky winners to receive the adorable pillow pattern shown above. Just leave me a comment below, answering one little question... who taught you how to sew? Or did you teach yourself using a book, the web, or something else? Next Friday on December 18th, at 10:00 pm I will draw two numbers from a hat based on how many comments there are. If one of the numbers matches your comment (1 for the first comment, 2 for the second, etc...) you'll receive an email with instructions on how to download the pattern!

If you haven't learned how to sew yet, maybe you will win and learn from this very pattern! My offer still stands, come on over and we'll sew it together!