My boys' bedrooms have been rather neglected for a long time and I've finally decided to do something about it. I'll show you bit by bit as I get things done in there.
Here are some 'before' pictures.
The first project is this old scout blanket. I found it at the op shop (thrift store) with all the badges already sewn on. As you can see, they date back to the early 80s and many of them are from the area of Perth where I grew up. I just had to have it. When I first bought it, the blanket had no edging and looked like this:
And here are some close-ups of some of the badges:
If something goes on the floor, Truffle has to try out lying on it.
I decided to edge the blanket with blue and white gingham fabric to finish it off. I had bought 1m of the fabric, so not enough to make bias trim. I decided to try making the trim by cutting straight strips of fabric and sewing them together. It worked! I'll show you how I did it.
To start, I cut strips the entire length of the fabric. Each strip was 15cm wide.
I sewed the strips together,
folded the edges over approximately 1cm on each side and ironed them.
Then I folded the long strip almost in half lengthwise, but with one 'half' slightly longer than the other.
That's the binding done. To begin attaching it I folded the ends inward to a point and pinned it to the side of the blanket. The central fold of the binding is right on the edge of the blanket. This picture shows the fold of the blanket pinned in place. The next few pictures will show how to sew neat corners.
With the shorter 'half' of the binding on top, sew zig-zag stitch along the side of the blanket across to the corner. The zig-zag should easily catch the slightly longer lower edge of the binding.
Keeping the fold of the binding at the edge of the blanket, wrap the binding around the corner of the blanket and pin in the position of the yellow pin below.
Neaten the corner fold so it is at 45 degrees from the corner of the blanket and pin in the position of the red pin below.
Starting at the outside corner, sew zig-zag down the fold (backstitch or do close-together stitches to start). Pivot at the inside edge and continue sewing down the next side of the blanket to the next corner.
When you reach the end, trim and fold the binding as shown below and stitch in place. Yay!
All done :)
I am really pleased with how this turned out. The badges add colour and interest. My son likes to relax and look at all the different badges. He's even started making his bed neatly!
If you can't find a scout blanket, maybe you can find scout badges on ebay, garage sales or op shops. Alternatively use patches of printed fabrics, buttons or other interesting embellishments. As always, I'd love to hear from you if you make one!
This tutorial is part of the
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