Brrr!  All that snow is making me want to snuggle up on the couch with a big fleece blanket and some cocoa!  And, that’s what this post is all about.  Welcome to a quick tutorial on a fleece pocket blanket.  Enjoy!

Instead of a tree, we like to put up a snow village and a manger scene.

One of these days we're going to add a train set!

Fleece Pocket Blanket Tutorial  ( 58″x50″ blanket):

One of these pillows is also a blanket!

Supplies:

1 & 3/8 yard of fleece, 1/2 yard fleece for contrast pocket, 1 spool of coordinating thread, 1/2 yard of water soluble stabilizer

Instructions:

Trim away the selvages from the bigger fleece and set aside.

Cut a 15″x28″ rectangle from the contrast fleece.  Fold in half and mark center.  The folded edge will be the top edge of the pocket.  Unfold the fleece and embroider with your preferred design.

Close-up of embroidered pocket

I used a design from Dakota Collectibles’  Embossed Embroidery Variety Collection.

Tip:  Usually, when embroidering on fleece,  I use a water soluble topper to prevent the stitches from sinking in.  But, if you are using an embossed design, the stitches are supposed to sink in so, I didn’t use a topper in this instance.

TaDa!

Fold the pocket in half with embroidery showing.

Center the pocket along the bottom edge of the blanket.   Align the raw edges and pin in place.

Stitch the sides of the pocket and the bottom edge of the pocket.

Close-up of blanket stitch and stabilizer.

Cut your water soluble stabilizer into strips that are about an 1 1/2″ wide and as long as possible.

Select a blanket stitch or other decorative stitch on your sewing machine.  Lay a strip of stabilizer under one long edge of the blanket and stitch along the edge.

Pivot at the corner.

Lay another long strip under the next edge of your blanket and repeat steps for all 4 edges.

Trim and rinse away the stabilizer to remove.

Enjoy your blanket!

Pocket Pillow/Blanket Folding Instructions:

1)Fold the blanket into thirds, the same width as the pocket.

2)Flip the blanket with pocket side down and Fold the blanket once....

3)Fold the blanket twice....

4)Fold the blanket until it's down to the size of the pocket.

5)Turn the pocket inside out. This will tuck the blanket inside of the pocket.

6)TaDa! You can embroider the pocket on both sides so it always shows, but I decided to just embroider one side.

Let’s get sewing!

Jenny Gabriel – alter ego:  StitchinJenny