How to Sew a Minky Blanket - Casually Unexpected

I love minky blankets. I’m not sure why but I find them particularly cute.

When I was pregnant I had already decided Little Lady needed a bunch of them! (OK, it was a great excuse to make blankets, but I did want her to grow up to love them too.)

Having looked at some of the prices of nice blankets I decided to make my own.

I didn’t know it would be this easy to be honest. I’ve gotten it down to about thirty minutes. If you’ve ever wanted to try sewing it’d be an easy, fun, and doable first project. Besides, whether it’s for your little one, baby shower gift, or a huge one for yourself these are great.

If you’ve never sewn before any project can be a little daunting, here are a few tips for this one:

Minky doesn’t shrink when washed, but make sure you pre-wash/dry your other fabric types. When you sew unwashed fabrics to Minky it may pull itself apart when you go to wash it.

PINS! Don’t be afraid to use them with minky. Lots of them, they’re cheap.

When sewing minky to another fabric type, such as cotton, sew with the minky on the bottom. This will help keep it from stretching.

With those tidbits, let’s get started!

First, pin your two fabrics right sides together – the right side of a fabric is the side you expect to see, the colorful side. You want the fabrics facing each other because we will be turning it right side out later.

Sew along three sides. To make it easier later, sew from one corner of a short side around to the adjacent short corner. This will leave one short end unsewn.

When you get to a corner, pause but leave the needle in your fabric and rotate it. There’s no need to start and stop.

When complete, turn your fabric right side out.

To close the unsewn short end, tuck both sides of the fabric inwards and pin together.

Most advice would be to sew all the way around, with a small hole left to turn it right side out. With minky though, you’ll notice it may gather or stretch a little. By leaving a side unsewn you’ll find lots of “fix it” room.

When you are done pinning, go ahead and sew completely around your blanket to close it off. This will give it a nice finished look.

Since my baby blanket was quite big or if yours is too, you’ll want to sew a few lines down your blanket. Otherwise the fabric will shift in the wash or from use. I sewed two lines down my blanket to keep it from shifting. You can have fun with this part by doing designs throughout or even changing the thread color.