Mitered Border
Receiving Blanket
Materials: (42/45” flannel)
—1 yd. of front fabric
—1 1/4 yd back/border fabric
—thread to match back/border fabric
To make a larger blanket, use 1 1/2 yd of
Minkee (54/60” fabric), and 1 1/4 yd of
flannel (42/45” fabric.) And 2 smaller
blankets can be made with 7/8 yd Minkee
(cut in half), and two 1 1/8 yd pieces of
flannel.
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1. It is very important to wash your flannel and dry it in
the dryer before you begin! Flannels really shrink!
2. Square up the back/border fabric first. Refer to the
attached page, “How to Square-up Your Fabric.” Accurate
cutting will make a big difference, so take the time to do it
right, and make it square.
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3. Square up the front fabric (in the same way you
squared up the back/border fabric), cutting it about 10”
smaller than the back/border fabric. The smaller you cut
it, the wider the border will be, and the smaller your
finished blanket will be.
4. Lay out the back/border piece with the right side up.
Then center the front piece on top of it with the right side
down — right sides should be together, and the raw edges
should be together on one side only (see pic.# 4).
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5. For accuracy, measure the amount of back/border
fabric that is sticking out on each side. They should
measure the same (see pic. #5). Write down this
measurement to use on the opposite side. Pin the front
piece 1/4” away from it’s edge on both sides. Pin the rest
of this side between the end pins. Repeat for the opposite
side, but leave about 8“ open in the middle of one seam, to
turn it right side out.
6. Sew the front and back piece together on both pinned
sides, beginning and ending 1/4” away from the edge of the
front piece. Backstitch at the beginning and end of your
stitching (see pic. #6).
7. Lift the blanket up by a corner, then fold the corner into
a point, making all 4 raw edges even (see pic. #7). Pin the
unsewn edges together where the stitching ends at the
point. Repeat for all 4 corners. Then pin between the pins
on both long sides, and sew from end pin to end pin.
Backstitch at beginning and end, and remember not to
stitch past the end pins, into the 1/4” seam allowance.
This side is already sewn.
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8. To miter each corner, Pick-up the blanket by one corner,
and fold the corner into a point, with raw edges together (like
you did before). The flap of extra fabric should fold nicely and
come to a point (see pic. 8).
9. Fold the point down onto the folded edge of the flap, so that
another fold forms from the corner of the stitching, to the fold in
the flap. Remember to fold the fold onto the fold. Mark the fold
with a pin (see pic. 9).
10. Open the fold and check your line. It should form a 90°
angle from the folded edge, to the pin point at the folded edge,
to the point where the stitching ends. You may draw a light line
right onto the fabric to help you know where to sew. Sew from
the corner where the stitching ends, to the pin at the fold. (see
pic. 10). Backstitch at both ends, and do not sew into the 1/4”
seam where the stitching ends.
folded edge
raw edge
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11. Trim off the extra fabric on each corner, leaving 1/4” seam
allowance. Clip off a little extra at the point, so it will form a nice
point when turned right-side-out. Miter all 4 corners. Press the
mitered seam open (see pic. 11). Press the side seam
allowances toward the border. Turn right-side-out and gently
form the corners.
90°
12. Lay the blanket out smoothly on a table or the floor. Make
sure the seam allowance is toward the border. Pin the layers
together all around the border edge (see pic. 12). Pin the raw
edges of the opening, so they are smooth with the rest of the
border.
13. Top-stitch along the
edge of the border, all the
way around, sewing the
opening closed as you go
(see pic. 13).
Top-stitching is usually
done with a slightly longer
stitch, about 1/16” to 1/8”
from the edge.
stitching ends here
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© 2006—2010 Annette Rose
[email protected]
P.O Box 15, Hyde Park. UT 84318
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How to Square-up Your Fabric
2. Lay the fabric down onto a cutting mat and smooth it
out. Lay a sheet of poster paper on top of the fabric,
with the long edge even with the fold of the fabric.
Line-up the poster paper so that you mark where to
cut the side of the fabric, cutting as little off as
possible.
fold
3. Mark the top and bottom of the poster with pins. Remove
the poster paper. Line-up your ruler with the pins. Remove
the pins and cut this side edge off. Repeat for the other side, cutting off as little as
possible. Measure from one cut side to the other and write it down. This will be
measurement “A.”
4. Open the fabric and fold it the other way, so that the 2 edges that you just cut are
together at the top. Lay the fabric down onto the cutting mat and smooth it out. Lay
the sheet of poster paper onto the fabric, with the long edge even with the fold of the
fabric, and mark the cutting line with pins (as you did before). Cut off as little as
possible, but be sure to remove all of the selvedge.
5. Measure from this last cut edge to just before the selvedge on the opposite edge.
This will be measurement “B.” Compare the two measurements. If measurement “A” is
smaller, leave the fabric folded as it is, and cut the other side of the fabric the size of
measurement “A,“ squaring up with the poster paper as your guide.
6. If the second measurement is smaller, cut off the selvedge edge on the left side,
measure from side to side, and write this measurement down. This will be
measurement “C.”
7. Open the fabric, and fold it the other way, with the 3 cut edges even. Measure from
the cut side, and mark it the same width as measurement “C.” Square-up with the poster
paper, mark with pins and cut.
8. Re-measure each side and re-trim if needed.
The bigger fabric piece should measure at least 3” bigger, but not more than 12”
bigger. The idea is to make each piece of fabric square, and as big as possible.
Everyone’s measurements will be different, but the average is 9” to 10” difference.
pins
1. Hold your fabric with selvedge edges together at the top. Shift the selvedge edges
from side to side until the fabric looks straight and has no pulling wrinkles. The side
edges may be off by quite a bit, but we want to square-up the fabric with the folded
edge, not the side edges.