How To Make a DIY, No Sew, Stamped Blanket

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My husband and I used to walk to the gas station and get a pint, and then walk over to Redbox and get a movie. A decade later, many of our nights are spent doing the exact same thing once the kids are in bed, except we are arguing over who is going to drive and get it in the minivan. As much as I love spending time with him, every once in a while he has a work meeting or call and I get to curl up by myself, control the TV volume, not share the blanket, and indulge in a moment to myself. Sitting with no one asking me questions and no one touching me is almost meditative –  watching a movie and eating ice cream under a blanket takes the pleasure factor up another notch!

In honor of that, I am sharing how to make a no sew stamped blanket. I had a large sweatshirt fleece piece leftover after making this cute hat last year, and I thought it would make the perfect “blanket for one”. Simple potato stamps and fabric paint transformed it from a boring light grey into a bold, graphic print! I’m thrilled with how it turned out, and think it would make a quick and easy DIY gift for teens or tweens too!

This is also the position from which almost all of my blog posts are written, so this blanket doubles as a workspace!

Looking for more home decor projects? Check these posts out!

• How to make a doorstop
• The easy way to turn a t shirt into a pillow
• How to make a shibori indigo tie dye blanket

This post is about “me moments” but I love how this blanket looks in my son’s room, too! Once he is a little older, he could help stamp as well.

 

My Mother-in-law was visiting when I was working on this project, so I got to curl up with butter pecan ice cream and watch a movie during the DAY. So relaxing!

Block printing gives a gritty, uneven feel to the stamps that I really love. I think I’m going to use this same technique and make my daughter a bean bag chair!

 

Are you ready to make a no sew sweatshirt blanket of your own? It is surprisingly cheap and easy!

Supplies

• 1.5 yards of sweatshirt fleece* – cut into a 40″ X 60″ rectangle
• 3 potatoes
• Fabric paint (or regular acrylic paint + textile medium* additive makes any paint into fabric paint!)
• Knife
• Sponge Brush
• Iron
• Sharp fabric scissors*

Steps

1- Cut your shapes! I cut three different sizes triangles and tested them out. A few times I didn’t cut straight down, which lead to uneven inking. (see how I used this same technique on a skirt here!)

2. Stamp! I used a sponge brush to evenly apply paint to each stamp and worked in a loose pattern from left to right and back again.

3- Trim! Sweatshirt fleece is a knit fabric, which means it will not unravel. You can leave the edges completely raw if you’d like – you’ll notice there is a factory edge, which is called the selvage, on the two longer edges. As shown in the picture, this is personal preference if you want it cut off. If you don’t like raw edges, you could bump it up into beginner sewing and sew on knit binding or fold it over for a simple hem!

4- Follow your fabric paint’s instructions for heat setting and drying, and guidance on how long to wait before washing. My paint says to heat set with an iron once dry, and then wait a week to wash.

Done! It really is that easy. I stamped my entire blanket in under 2 hours, making it a fast and easy DIY gift for yourself or someone else. I really love how thin it is, so it doesn’t drag on my dirty floor. What is your ideal blanket? Small like mine, or extra wide? What do you do for a little me time?

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