*This post is brought to you by my sweet friend Carissa who needs a blog of her own about being crafty, or loving holidays, or something like that – you may remember her recent post about Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Muffins – she is all kinds of awesome and we appreciate her sharing another great post while we are hanging at the hospital.  Here’s Carissa…..

The Tie Blanket is an oldie, but goodie!  In my humble opinion, it makes for a great, affordable gift for both kids and adults.  It also lets a person be crafty with minimal supplies and no sewing skills.

Things you’ll need:

 

2 lengths of fleece, each 54 inches wide, measuring 1 ½ – 2 ½ yards long in coordinating patterns or colors.

Fabric scissors

Ruler

Instructions:

1)      Lay one piece of fleece down on ground, soft-side down (if there is a softer side).  Then place other piece of fleece on top of the first.

 

 

 

 

2)      Make sure the edges of the two pieces of flannel are even, using the fabric scissors to correct uneven edges.   Perfection is not required.

 

 

 

 

3)      Cut out 5×5 inch square out of each corner.  Be sure to keep the layers even on top of one another, cutting through both layers.  I find a CD case (minus the ½ -inch hinge edge) is the perfect template.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4)      Starting at one edge of the blanket, start cutting 1 ½ -inch wide strips (about 2 fingers width) through both layers of fabric, each 5 inches long.   After the first strip has been cut, I just eyeball it for the width and length for the rest of the strips – but feel free to measure should you be so inclined.  Cut these strips into the fabric for all four sides.  Again, absolute perfection not required.

 

 

 

 

 

5)      Now it’s time for the tying!  Starting with one strip at a time, tie a double-knot with the two pieces of fabric.  I recommend fiddling with the tying a bit so that when each knot is done, each tie “flap” is pointing towards the opposite color on the blanket.  See example below. (If you can’t figure it out then just tie away in whatever way works for you…have I mentioned that perfection is not required?)  Once done with all four sides, you’re done!

 

 

 

 

 

6)      Feel free to use a variety of colors or patterns…and enjoy!