How to Make a No-Sew Fleece Blanket! by Ally Schlabaugh

It's getting colder and some of us have dogs that need help staying warm! I'm going to show you how to make a fabulously cozy and stylish blanket for your dog. These blankets also make great gifts for kids, adults, friend's dogs. They're so quick and easy to make that you could even make some to donate to your favorite rescue, I.C.A.R.E.!

Ready to get started? Here's what you'll need:

* fleece fabric, 1 solid color & 1 print. You want about 1 yard of each for dogs and kids, and about 2 yards each for grown-ups.

* A good pair of scissors, or a rotary fabric cutter

* ruler or measuring tape

1. The first thing to do is to trim the selvedge from your fleece. This is the fuzzy edge on either end of the fabric. (I forgot to take a picture when I did this step, so I stole a picture from Google ;)

2. Lay the two pieces of fleece, wrong sides facing each other, and smooth out.

3. Trim uneven edges of the fabric to make both pieces the same size.

4. Next you're going to cut out a 5x5" square from each corner.

5. NOW you're ready to cut your fringes. You want to make them each about 1 inch thick. It is helpful to place a ruler or measuring tape on the fabric to guide your cutting.

Cut fringes all the way around your blanket...

6. Almost done! Now it's time to tie your blanket together. Start with tying the corners of the blanket to help it stay in place while you tie the remaining fringes.

You can tie each fringe consecutively, or for a more uniform look-tie every other fringe, then flip the blanket over and tie the remaining fringes. For this blanket, I chose the latter style.

Be sure to tie a fairly strong overhand knot (almost like tying off a balloon) AND make your knot about a half inch or more from the base of the blanket to avoid stretching.

When tying knots on the more elastic selvedge ends, be especially careful not to stretch

the fabric so your blanket lies nice and flat when you're done.

Once all your fringes are tied, that's it, YOU'RE DONE and you have a beautiful, snuggle blanket that everyone is guaranteed to LOVE!

NOTE: You can also make 1 layer fleece blankets! Follow all the same instructions above, but instead of tying the blanket together, you just tie the fringes for a decorative look. Here are a few styles I tried:

Bunny ears:

1. For a one layer blanket, you can cut out smaller corners, 4x4" is good.

2. Slightly pinch the fabric above the fringe and snip a small hole with the tip of your scissors

2. If you want true 'bunny' looking ears, next snip off the corners of each piece of fringe

3. To finish, simply loop the piece of fringe back under the fabric and pull it through the tiny hole you just made. Repeat for each piece of fringe...

Cute Tiny Tassles:

1. Prep the blanket the same as with the first two, except cut your fringe pieces about 1/2" in width.

2. Then just tie two pieces of the fringe together in an overhand knot, and you've got another great blanket for when the weather isn't quite as chilly :-)

Have fun and happy blanketing! ♥