Working with minky

Awhile back I found this awesome fabric and knew I wanted it for the baby's bedding:

The tree fabric is by Joel Dewberry and is in a collection called Majestic Meadow/Modern Oak--something like that. I found it on Etsy and am having someone make a crib skirt in the green tree pattern and a crib sheet in a brown tree pattern (not pictured). I was also going to have a minky blanket made to match, but that was going to cost me $80. Originally I was nervous about working with minky (the brown fabric in the pic--it's really soft and also stretchy and slippery). I haven't sewn with that sort of fabric before and figured it'd be better to buy a blanket.

After reading a few tutorials online, I had a change of heart and decided that I could make the blanket--at least give it a shot. I bought a yard of brown minky dot for less than $10, and I also purchased the green and brown tree fabrics for this blanket and other projects. I got them all online, and the cost of my minky blanket ended up being under $15 as I have fabric left in all three patterns. That's a huge discount from the $80 I would've paid! (I did order the skirt and fitted sheet--maybe one day I'll figure those out, but not during this pregnancy!)

These are the two tutorials I read before starting, but I'll also give my own instructions:

First tutorial

Second tutorial

I decided to make a 36x36 blanket as one of the blogs did. Both said to cut the minky slightly larger, but one said she cuts a little extra of all fabrics just to be safe. I did, and that ended up being a terrible idea. I'm not perfect with my measurements, but I do use a rotary cutter and board, so I'm pretty close. I should've trusted myself and cut the tree fabric to 36 inches and the minky to 37 or so. 

After cutting the fabric, you put the pieces wrong sides together:

Then let the pinning begin! (Oh, I did iron the tree fabric, too, for better cutting and such.) I followed the second tutorial and pinned the heck out of these fabrics. Because I didn't trust myself with cutting it was more difficult to keep the tree fabric centered within a border of minky, and I ended up taking quite awhile to pin.

I took one side at a time, pinned the ends and the center, then between those points. I then went back and  put a pin in the center of each gap.

The next part that was difficult was keeping a consistent seam allowance. I'm not great at this to begin with, but the extra minky made it difficult for me to tell where the edge of the tree pattern was, which was how I was supposed to be measuring. I did the best I could, and since you turn it inside out, it's okay if it's not perfect (this is also my motto for all handmade projects...I'll change my mind if I ever make clothes!).

I also took each pin out as I went because I've broken several needles by sewing on top of pins. I've had people tell me this shouldn't happen, so maybe I'm weird. I can sew over pins when using stiffer material and a regular foot, but anytime I've had thick fabric and tried to sew over pins it ends badly.

As you sew around the four sides, be sure to leave a gap from where you start and end so you can turn the blanket inside out. You can sort of see where the brown thread is on the far right and left of this picture.

After sewing (don't forget to backstitch!) turn the blanket inside out and push out the corners. It can help to trim the corners and some of the excess minky first, just don't cut too close to your seam.

The second tutorial link shows how to turn in the fabric at your gap and iron that down.

Then you pin that part together before you add the topstitch.

Then you just sew all around the blanket one last time to finish it. I decided I wanted to do like the first tutorial and do a decorative stitch. I probably should have done otherwise, but this is for my baby who won't even know what a topstitch is, so who cares that it didn't turn out consistently. I chose a wavy stitch that ended up being closer together in some places than others. It depended on how quickly the fabric went through the needle, and since the minky is so darn slippery, the speed changed constantly. I'll say here that I did use a walking foot for this because I have one. The speed was still inconsistent for me.

Even though my topstitch isn't consistent, I think it's cute and very childlike!

You can also see where I started getting too close and had to stop and pull back to my desired seam allowance. Again, I'm blaming the slipperiness!

Regardless of the mistakes, I'm super happy with my blanket that took me about an hour to make and around $15. I'll definitely try another one, and I'm sure I'll get better with more practice.

I also recently purchased a staple gun, so I covered a canvas with some awesome elephant fabric to hang on the wall. Two projects done, way too many left to do!