Well, in return, I promised her a Ruffle Blankie for her daughter's first birthday.
Stephanie chose this amazing flannel by Riley Blake. Summer Song is the exact name of the print. She paired it with lime green minky and hot pink satin.
I thought I'd share a few tips about making ruffle blanket-- both for my own records and as a semi-tutorial.
This requires intermediate sewing skills- not a beginner project.
The first thing I did was to make the ruffle. My satin was 60" wide, so I cut 6 7" strips. I sewed them together, right sides together, which made a strip that was 360" long.
I chose to make soft pleats on this ruffle. I could have ruffled it in the machine with a ruffle foot and then pulled the bobbin threads, but chose to pleat it since I don't have much experience with ruffling.
It doesn't really matter how big your pleats are, as long as they are uniform around the entire blanket.
Once your ruffle is complete and stitched down, pin it to the flannel. Make sure the raw edges line up and sew around all four sides of the flannel.
The corners: One of the more challenging parts of this project! I'm so thankful that I leared to mitre corners last fall when I made a table runner. There is an excellent tutorial for mitreing on the Diary of a Quilter blog.
Once your ruffle is stitched onto the flannel, it's time to attach the minky! Keep the ruffle folded down towards the flannel, and put the minky on top. All raw edges should be to the outside.
All done!
I had a little fabric left so I made a doll blanket and pillow, too!
And a pillow for the sweet birthday girl!
It's fun to take on projects that I know will be challenging, and this sure was. I wouldn't do this kind of gift for just anyone, but it was truly my priveledge to shower Stephanie's sweet baby girl with such a special blanket and pillow. She is such a dear friend, and knowing her has truly been a blessing! Happy birthday, sweet Lawson!
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