Waterproof Picnic Blanket

Hello I’m Susan Nixon with About.com and today I’m going to show you how to make a waterproof picnic blanket.

Cut the Waterproof Fabric

So we’re going to start with out waterproof fabric. We’re going to go to the top edge and measure down to 63 inches and make a mark. So here’s my 63-inch mark. I’m just going to slide my straight edge right on top. Use my rotary cutter and make a straight line. No we only want the fabric to be 58 inches wide, it was 60 inches to begin with. So we’re just going to even up the edges and trim a little off the end.

Cut the Fleece Fabric

So here’s the piece of fleece that I have. It’s folded in half. I’m just going to measure 26 inches over from the fold and 26inches is a little bit smaller than the waterproof fabric. So I’ve lined this up on my grid. Here’s my chalk mark here’s my second mark. I’m just going to put those right on the edge of the straight edge and cut a nice straight line. Then measure from the top edge down, 63 inches right here. And let’s just cut straight across.

Press the Waterproof Fabric

So let’s start with the waterproof fabric. I serged around the outside just to keep it from fraying while I’m pressing it. And we’re going to begin by pressing each end under 2 ½ inches. So I slide my fabric to the 2 ½ inch mark, and press all the way around, all four sides. The next step, once you have your 2 ½ inch mark, is to come back. Now we’re just going to press under a ½ inch. And again, press on all four sides.

Miter the Corners

Now I finished the pressing and I want to setup up my mitered corners. I’m going to measure in 5 inches from each corner. Because that’s double the hem that I’m going to be pressing. Starting at the corner again, coming down 5 inches. Then I’m just going to take my straight edge and I’m going to take a chalk mark from one side to the other. So now I take that chalk line, I’m going to fold my fabric in half, match up the pins, then I’m going to sew from the fold towards the edge, stopping right at my ½ inch fold line that I pressed with the iron.

Assemble the Picnic Blanket

I’m going to use a really bright thread so you can see what I’m doing. Now I just trim that thread and I’m going to trim off the extra fabric. Now we’re just going to flip the corner and it’s ready where I pressed under a half an inch that’ll tuck under. Now we’ll have the perfect frame for where the fleece is going to ride under it. So now we have the fleece fabric, we’re just going to slide that right into the corner. I’m going to use one pin to hold it down at the corner edge. On the rest of the sides, do a thin line of glue stick; bring the fleece right up to the fold line where we pressed the 2 ½ inches in. A couple of pins to hold the frame, and you’re ready to sew.

Finish the Project with a Decorative Stitch

So I’ve got my machine set for a decorative stitch, and I’m just going to sew all around the inside of the frame. I just leave my needle down to turn at the corner. I finish going around the inside corners and our waterproof blanket is all done.

Thanks for watching. To learn more, visit us on the web at about.com