I spent the bulk of Father’s Day driving Annie to Buckeye Girls State.
Buckeye Girls State is a week-long program designed to educate Ohio’s young women in the duties, privileges, rights, and responsibilities of good citizenship. By getting involved in the process, BGS delegates learn more about city, county, and state government in one week than they will in an entire semester of high school.
It was strange to drop her off in a college dorm….a bit of a preview for things to come.
Unable to plan much for the day, I threw a pork roast in the slow cooker and we shared dinner with our neighbors.
Who can resist a father and his little boy? The plan was to take photos of my husband with the new blanket Annie and I made for him. But by the time I got around to taking photos, the guys were sweaty from playing a Frisbee game. But my husband was thrilled with this lightweight, sweatshirt blanket!
The pattern is the Big Softee from Sew4Home. (So many fantastic projects on their website!) The sweatshirt fleece is from Fabric.Com. It is a 100% cotton, organic sweatshirt fleece. It’s really soft and it is a lightweight sweatshirt. I think it would make a fantastic backing for my T Shirt blankets – especially for customers in warmer climates. The navy blue was back-ordered so I purchased a yard from Joann. The navy at Joann’s is 100% cotton, although it was slightly thicker than the other colors.
Annie and I tag teamed the project. It worked up quickly. It’s always a bit challenging sewing with knits. Use the proper needle and try not to stretch the fabric.
The above photo shows the back side of the blanket. The construction method involves flat-felled seams. It was unclear to me whether or not we were supposed to fold the seam on the back, which is the normal method. But, since knits don’t ravel, we simply pressed the seam down and stitched it. That is how the hem is created all the way around – folded under and top stitched with a double needle. Also, when making a flat-felled seam, you sew the fabric together using a 1/2″ seam. Then you trim one of the seam allowances so the other seam allowance can be folder and stitched over the smaller one. I had the realization that it would have been easier to just sew the seam in an offset manner. In other words, place the fabric, right sides together, but move the top fabric over 1/4″ so that you don’t have to trim the fabric.
My husband is thrilled with it and he gave strict orders to the kids that it was his! I wish we had an outdoor couch that he could take a nap on and that we could sit and relax on.
Speaking of blankets, I completed this 25-Block T Shirt Blanket. This blanket is backed with a sweatshirt fleece and I used the fleece to self-bind the blanket. Although it is not for a father, this would make a great Father’s Day blanket! It’s a little heavier and it’s a great size for two to snuggle under!
Summer has been slow starting here in Cleveland. We’ve had a lot of rain, low clouds, and mugginess. I hope your summer is off to a good start!
