After seeing the prices of the blankets I decided to tackle making one myself. I have basic sewing skills and enough confidence in them to attempt this project. I did a lot of research on Pinterest and finally found instructions on a blog that I felt comfortable with.
http://agirlandhertube.blogspot.com/2011/04/sensory-processing-disorder-how-to-make.html
It took me about 6 hours to complete. It was more tedious than anything. There was a lot of math and measuring involved! I also broke two of my sewing machine's needles when some of the plastic pellets got stuck in my seam. I can't sew a straight line to save my life, but luckily it really doesn't matter for this project.
Supplies:
1 Yard of Flannel Fabric
1 Yard of Cotton Fabric
White Poly Plastic Pellets (the kind used for Corn Hole Bags, Stuffed Animals, etc.)
Most websites recommend making the blanket 10% of your child's body weight. My son weighs around 45 pounds so I made my blanket 4.5 pounds. I bought a 5 pound bag of the plastic pellets from Amazon, making sure that they were machine washable. I would not recommend drying these even if the directions say it's safe to. I just wouldn't want to take the chance of ruining the blanket.
Clip the corners and turn the fabric inside out so that the wrong sides are now together. |
Sew around all three sides again to make sure they are secure. |
Since I wanted 8 columns, they ended up measuring a little over 4 inches each.. |
I did my best to measure and pin each line the entire length of my blanket. Sew each column, stopping about an inch from the top of the open side |
Close the top of the blanket by turning the top seams in and sewing it shut. |
This is what the completed blanket looks like. You can see the pockets on the green side of the blanket best. |
He's slept with it every night since I made it! |