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Around ten years ago I started placing heavy objects and applying pressure on my abdomen whilst sleeping, using wheat bags and lying over pillows.  It just seems to calm me and help alleviate the anxiety I sometimes feel, which has led to many sleepless nights.  I have since learned it is not only beneficial for those who experience a lot of anxiety, stress and insomnia, but also helpful for those with Asperger’s, Autism and ADHD.

 

The therapeutic method employed by occupational therapists is known as deep pressure touch (DPT).  It helps to achieve calmer behaviour, by reducing agitation, distress, lowering heart rate and respiration.  And this is how a weighted blanket can come into play.


 

HOW TO MAKE A WEIGHTED BLANKET

To help calm and relax

MATERIALS

  • fabric (for different coloured panels and back of blanket, I used cotton on the front and a fine corduroy on the back.) 

  • fabric for binding (black cotton poplin)

  • poly pellets (weights the blanket down and is machine washable)

  • wadding/batting (I used polar fleece because it was $7AU/m, not $30+/m!!!)

  • stuffing

  • ribbon (optional)

  • 90° triangular ruler OR a large ruler

TOOLS

  • sewing machine

  • thread

  • fabric scissors

  • unpicker (if you make a mistake)

  • chalk/disappearing ink pen

  • pins

  • iron

  • ironing board

  • scales

  • rotary cutter (optional)

  • cutting mat (optional)

Now if you’re looking for a nice plush blanket to make for yourself, without the extra weight, all you need to do is not put in the poly pellets!
It cost me around $100 to make this.  So that's something you would also need to weigh up.  Using plain fabrics definitely makes it cheaper.


RECOMMENDATION:  Read through the whole tutorial once so you familiarise yourself with the steps.

LET'S GET STARTED

Having done a bit of my own research to figure out the best method to go about making it, I decided I would write a tutorial, as the ones I found were mostly about practicality.  But being who I am, I always need to work on the aesthetical aspect as well!  Plus the bonus is if you don’t want it to actually be a weighted blanket all you need to do is not put in the poly pellets.  SIMPLE!

Making this blanket was most definitely a feat!  I did it over two days, which was only made possible by having collected all the materials I would need over the week and I am pretty happy with the overall results.

 


DISCLAIMER:  This is a tutorial on how to make a weighted blanket.  It would be best for you to do your own research to decide whether this will be beneficial to you.

MAKE A PLAN

Decide how big you want to make the blanket.
TIP:  you want the squares to be big enough that you can easily pull your arm in and out when adding the poly pellets and stuffing to each square.  I made mine 15cmx15cm and wouldn’t make them any smaller than this.


DRAW YOUR PLAN AND DESIGN
Design your pattern, taking into account seam allowance all the way around the blanket and in between panels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • My design has 7 different panelled fabrics and they're not all the same size.

  • I have 6 columns and 11 rows and have split the rows up into 7 different panels (for each fabric I want to use). 

  • All panels are the same width, however I have different lengths (due to changing seam allowance and the number of squares in my design).

  • The only panels which are the same are the single squared rows.  This is because the seam allowance around each of them is the same.

 

NOTE:  If you're not a strong sewer, make sure you look closely at the seam allowance around each of the panels.  This is what determines the size to cut each piece.

 

 

HOW MUCH FABRIC DO I NEED?

  • BACK = 170cm

  • PANELS = According to the lengths on the DESIGN page

  • BINDING = 50cm
    How to work it out:  10cm wide and 530cm long + extra 10cm. 
    My fabric was 114cm wide (check on label)
    530/114 = 4.7 (this means I will want 5 strips 10cm wide of fabric)
    = 50cm
     

    Hope that makes sense, it may be clearer to you when you read over the steps!

 

 

FIGURE OUT THE AMOUNT OF POLY PELLETS YOU NEED
I did a bit of reading around and found the general rule to be:
8-10% of your body weight (or whoever the blanket is for)

 

ie.  I went for 10% of my body weight.  I'm 55 kilograms, so the amount of poly pellets I needed was 5.5 kilograms.
There's 66 squares, which means each square has 83.3 grams.

 

(you can buy poly pellets on e-bay and from your local fabric store should supply them.  I bought mine from here:

http://lynsrebornworld.com.au/catalog.php?page=1&item=160

 

 

 

 


FIRST THINGS FIRST
Wash all of your fabrics before you start sewing them!
  This will ensure your fabrics don't warp when you wash your blanket for the first time.  Once they're all dry make sure to iron them flat.

  • With each of your panelled fabrics, mark the length and width for each with chalk and cut using the rotary cutter and cutting mat.  Alternatively you can cut each pieace by hand using fabric scissors.

  • (optional)  I had a plain orange cotton fabric which I felt needed a bit more detail.  So I bought a mustard coloured thread and used the embroidery stitches on my machine to add a bit more interest.

CUTTING TO SIZE

  • Pinning the fleece(wadding/batting) and the back fabric together, cut to size (95cmx170cm)

  • Pin the panels to the fleece and backing fabric, wrong side together.

  • Sew 2.5cm around the two long edges and one of the short edges.  Leaving one side open!

  • Once all the panels have been sewn together, open up the seam and iron it flat.

START SEWING

  • Sew panels by placing right sides together, with a 1.5cm seam allowance.

  • This is what it will look like at this stage.  See how along the top edge (yellow fabric) I have left it open.

  • Leave the pins along the top edge, it will help with the next step.

  • From the seam edge measure 15 cm and mark this on vertically with your chalk, all the way to the top.

  • Pin each vertical strip as you go.  If you choose to add ribbon to your blanket, pin the ribbon straight on in this step as well.
     

TIP:  As you mark on each strip, pin and add the ribbon.  Also make sure to have your pin facing the right way so you can pull them out as you so the vertical lines.

I sewed from the bottom (dandelions) to the yellow top edge.  This is so you don't end up with bunching at the bottom!  Which means my pins were facing pointy end to the bottom.

  • As you sew each vertical strip, follow your chalk lines OR sew in the middle of the ribbon.  Don't worry if it's not perfect, you honestly won't even notice it.

  • I now have 6 columns sewn with ribbon in place, ready to start adding my poly pellets and stuffing.

  • Now measure halfway between panel 7.  This is made of up two squares lengthways.

  • Chalk on 15cm from the bottom like this.

  • Weigh how many poly pellets you need for each square (mine is 83grams per square...yes I know it says 84, just go with it).
     

TIP:  The amount of poly pellets I needed for each square fit perfectly into a 1/2 cup.  This meant I did not need to weigh out each square, which can be time consuming.  So once you know how many poly pellets you need, see if you can find a measuring cup that suits your own needs.

Be careful not to spill them!!!  Once I measured out my half a cup, I would pour them back into this lipped cup, so that it was easier to pour them into my blanket.

 

  • Next, grab a handful of stuffing and push it right to the bottom of each column.

  • Any poly pellets that didn't make their way to the bottom will be pushed down during this process.

  • For ease I measured the stuffing to be the volume of this cup.

  • Next pin along the chalked edge and add the ribbon as well.  The same way as when sewing the columns.

  • Sew along the row, following the chalked line OR the ribbon.
     

TIP: For my first row as you can see here, I have the weighted side on my right.  For each row after this I had the weighted side on my left.

Have a large table and a chair on your left for the blanket to rest on.  The blanket gets really, really heavy.  I actually broke 3 needles because it bent them whilst sewing!!

  • Because panel six is made up of one square lengthways, I could follow the seam, without having to measure 15cm up and chalk on my lines.

  • Pour the poly pellets into the first column and repeat for each column.

  • Lift the blanket, to shake all the poly pellets down to the bottom for each row.

  • Press the other side half way in.

  • Fold it all closed and press again

MAKE YOUR BINDING

  • I nipped the edge of the black cotton at every 10cm and then ripped the fabric (so I didn't have to cut each strip.

  • Press each strip in half.

  • Press each strip in half again.

  • Be careful the poly pellets don't fall out, once you reach the last row!!  I put lots of pins along the edge to try and avoid this.

  • Sew this edge with 2.5cm seam allowance!!

  • Panel five is made up of two squares lengthways, so measure 15cm from panel six and mark on with chalk.  Continue same steps as above.
     

NOTE:  You will also need to do this for panel one.  Panel one is made up of three squares lengthways, so it will need to be done twice.

  • Sew each strip together with 1.5 cm seam allowance. 

  • Press seams open.

  • Fold in eachother and press.

  • This is what the seams look like once pressed.

SEW ON YOUR BINDING

  • Sandwhich the binding along the edge of the blanket and pin.

  • Sew the binding to the blanket.

  • Don't sew right along the edge as you need to make sure you're catching it on the back as well.

  • Clip each corner.  When you sew around each corner, you will be forcing the binding around, and will need to fold it in on itself a few times.


OKAY...I will admit, this does look a little messy, but you don't really notice.  I was lazy with my corners!  Mainly because I was so tired and just wanted to finish it.  Had I done it properly, I would have mitred my corners (I will put a video at the end, so you can see what I mean and do it that way).

  • When you reach the end of the binding (to finish it off), fold it back in on itself.

FINISHED!!!!!

BINDING WITH MITRED CORNERS

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