Bountiful Beach Blankets

I finished this blanket just in time for the beach yesterday.  It’s made from two Ikea towels that I picked up last summer.  I think the towels cost about $7 each and that is really something because their quality is outstanding.  Actually, a little too good for a pool or beach towel – too large and heavy.  So I decided to go with that theme and make them even larger and heavier by combining the two towels into one beach blanket.

I cut each towel in half to create four same-size squares.  Then I cut off one finished edge (the edge I needed to seam) from each square.  Next I laid out the squares as I wanted to piece them together and found that I did not have four same-size squares at all.  Eventually, I got the sizes I needed and when I laid them out to make sure all the edges lined up, they looked like this …

I wanted a really flat seam, so I played around with a couple of ideas on some of the toweling I cut off and eventually decided to sew a regular seam with right sides together, then press it open, and stitch with something called a tricot stitch on my machine on the right side of the blanket (the more velvety side) on both sides of the seam line.  I sewed two adjacent squares together in this manner, then the other two adjacent squares, and finally the resulting two rectangular pieces to form the blanket.  Here’s what those seams look like on the right side …

And here’s what they look like on the wrong side …

I think I’ve got a seam finish that will both keep the seam allowance flat and prevent raveling.  Hope so anyway.

The thing is my friend brought along an old comforter from college days and I liked the way the sand didn’t get stuck in it like it did in my towel blanket.  Maybe next time I should bring this …

I made this one about a million years ago.  The squares are actually inexpensive napkins that I bought at Cost Plus.  This didn’t save me any time or money, mind you.  The napkins’ edges needed to be cut off and then they needed to be made square and the napkins really weren’t that inexpensive, but I was charmed by the project in a magazine from the 90s that I really loved called Handcraft Illustrated.  And I guess I really just like making blankets.

p.s. If you’d like to learn how to make a strap for your blanket, please click here.