Self Binding Baby Blankets

When I was pregnant with  my twins I got tons of fun stuff at my baby showers!  My husband's aunt made me 2 super cute flannel blankets.  They were perfect for swaddling!  And my boys looooved to be swaddled!  One day my mom and I were trying to figure out how she made them...after quite a while we finally called my aunt and she told us how easy they were and explained them.  I was still a bit lost, but managed to figure it out!  I have no idea how she said to do the corners, so I found a way that works!  Before I begin, here are my boys all wrapped up in the ones I made for them!  Oh how I wish they could be so still these days!  They are almost 2... :)

So you are going to need 2 squares of flannel!  I am using the brown material as my backing, the white as the front.  The front square is 10" smaller than the back.  Since fabric usually comes about 44" wide, I get a 44" piece cut for the back, making a 44" square...for the front I get 34" and then trim it down so it is an even square.  But you may run into a problem like I did, my brown fabric had a huge 2" license sort of deal printed along the edge.  So I lost 2" of fabric, so my back square was 42" and my front was 32".  It's not a huge deal, it will work out either way!

Mark the centers of each edge of fabric.  I crease mine with the iron.  Lay them right sides together, matching up at the center.  

Begin pinning from the center and work your way out until you have reached the edge of the front fabric.

Turn to the next edge and line up the center again, pin and work your way outward.

The back is going to be really loose since it is quite a bit larger.  Your corners will kind of poke out like this.  Continue to pin all the edges of the blanket the same way until you are done.

Here is mine, all ready to start sewing.  I'm just trying to show how baggy all the fabric is.

Start at one corner and begin sewing each edge.  I use a  ¼" inseam.  Make sure you leave an opening on one of your edges to be able to turn the blanket right side out.  Mine is about 4-5" long. It is easier if you do it away from the corners, so try to put it in the middle of an edge.

Here is my blanket after I sewed all the way around.

Flip it right side out and press.  I line up my backing and press the border down.  On the edges I iron them out like this, and then fold them even with the other edge of the blanket and iron again.

This will give each corner a crease like this...so then will know where to sew it at.

Pull each corder back through the opening, one at a time.  You can see the crease I ironed in so I can sew along it.

Sew along the crease.

Cut off the excess fabric.

Push the corner back through and press.  Repeat with the remaining corners.

Once you are done with that the blanket it ready to top stitch.  You can use a straight stitch, but I like to use a cute scalloped stitch.  Start at your opening and work your way around.

That's it!  Pretty easy!  Here is my blanket all finished!  I am going to go pick up some cloth diapers and use my extra fabric to make some cute burp clothes.  It will be the perfect baby shower gift!