Sewing a muslin summer blanket: Sew a light cuddle blanket for warm summer nights. Even beginners can easily handle this. Here is my guide, which you can also use to sew cute baby blankets.
The most important things at a glance
- You can sew this light blanket in any size you like
- Muslin is a suitable material, which is also the focus of this article (but other fabrics such as double gauze or triple gauze, as well as waffle piqué, linen, or cotton knit are also suitable)
- The blanket is sewn with an overlocker or a standard household sewing machine
- If you want the blanket to be even lighter, you can skip the soy batting
- To quilt the many layers of fabric, you can also use the walking foot of your sewing machine
Sew a light muslin summer blanket
Such a light summer blanket made of muslin* is wonderful when the nights are sultry and warm. And because the blanket is sewn with light soy batting, it also keeps you warm in the early morning hours. Doesn't get better than that, right? ;)
By the way, you can sew this cozy blanket out of many of your favorite fabrics, not just muslin. In addition to muslin, warming triple gauze, for example, is also suitable, as it is wonderfully soft and absorbs moisture well.
Or cooling linen*, which develops an elegant wrinkled effect and becomes softer and more supple after every wash.
You can also sew the summer blanket from sturdy waffle piqué*, which allows plenty of air to reach your skin and ensures that you keep a cool head even on hot nights. ;)
Instead of soy batting, you can also easily use cotton batting. However, I wanted "pure nature," and because cotton batting often contains a proportion of synthetics, I chose 100% soy batting. It feels great!
Would you like to learn more about working with muslin?
Make sure to wash the fabrics before working with them. If fabrics shrink differently during washing, the entire blanket could end up warping. :)
Materials for the muslin blanket
- 2 x 2 m muslin*, waffle piqué, linen, or cotton fabric (e.g., in contrasting colors)
- 2 m soy batting* (you can also use cotton batting or skip the batting entirely)
- Ruler*
- Cutting mat*
- Rotary cutter*
- Scissors*
- Pins*
- Sewing thread*
Note: I like to cut muslin with a rotary cutter or electric scissors because I find it much easier than using regular scissors. When working with multiple layers of fabric, I find the electric scissors* especially great because they really save your wrists... ;)
Small digression: Cutting large pieces of fabric
You can use these tricks when, for example, you want to sew curtains, bed sheets, or tablecloths yourself. But these tips are also helpful for the backing of quilts & co.
You may be facing the challenge of cutting large pieces of fabric for the first time. You can't necessarily rely on the fabric store: even there, fabrics are sometimes simply cut a bit crookedly.
So you have to lend a hand yourself. But it's no drama; here are my tips:
- if the fabric tears well, you can tear it instead of cutting it
- cut grain-straight: pull a warp or weft thread and cut the fabric in the gap left by the thread
- fold the fabric in half and cut it with a patchwork ruler
- cut the fabric on a tile or parquet floor and use the joints as a guide
- use a yoga mat to align, weigh down, or cut the fabric
- stiffen the fabric before cutting it; it will warp less
- cut the fabric on a carpet and use its edges as a ruler
- cut the fabric on a table tennis table, for example
- use a floor protection mat (e.g., from IKEA) as a pattern
- use a ready-made blanket as a pattern
It also helps to fix the fabric to the floor with a small piece of double-sided tape.
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