Over the last few weeks my girls have had a few birthday parties to attend and you know how it is, especially when it is a special friend, a lot of time and effort goes into finding just the right present. We are just entering that transitional stage where little girls still enjoy playing with their toys "sometimes" but they are also wanting to be more grown up and starting to find other interests. One of the most popular gifts amongst this age groups seems to be Smiggle stationery. But when the majority of your gifts end up being Smiggle, well there is only so much Smiggle one little girl can use, so we wanted to try find a gift that was totally different.
The idea came when Aldi Stores recently had soft, plush blankets on sale in a variety of bright colours. We've purchased one of these in the past and it has washed up well and been a much loved blanket in our home, so I wasn't in the least bit hesitant about the quality. So with an idea formed, we purchased a few different colour blankets (in the recipients favourite colours) and headed home to start designing our project.
Here is the finished result . . . . .
A Personalized Applique Blanket
These are a nice size plush blanket and measure 127cm x 152cm, so just perfect to snuggle up under and keep warm and cozy when reading or watching a movie!
The designs are positioned around the centre of the blanket and each piece is approximately 8-10cm in size.
Now the big question - were the recepients excited to receive them? Yes, Absolutely!!
This idea is particularly great if you have a child with a name that never comes on the mass produced personalized items you can buy in stores. One of the girls was very excited because she finally was able to have something with her name on it.
If you need a gift idea then why not try making something like this. I just used cotton fabrics for the applique pieces, vliesofix (a heat bonding product which sticks the fabric to the blanket) and then blanket stitch around the edges - this can be done by hand or by machine. Honestly, it is so easy.
I now have some more to make for my own children - they figured if their friends could have nice personalized blankets then they wanted to have one too.
Does the heat bonding product you mentioned need to be ironed on? I printed some images onto iron on transfer paper and am looking for a way to attach to some plush blankets. But I didn't think I could iron them so I've been ironing onto cotton and then sewing onto the plush. So much more work!
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