D-I-Y Mermaid Blanket For Kids

You guys, I am so friggin proud of myself.  I actually crossed a few names off of my holiday shopping list and it’s not even December.  I seriously could do a dance right now.  While browsing online for some ideas to gift my BFF’s little girls.  I was going to get them a baking set or sand art.  Then I remembered that I actually love my bestie (Jackie), so teeny little parts and the idea of sand in her house made me rethink these presents.   How could I still be the “cool aunt that gives cool gifts” and not make Jackie disown me because her house is covered in sand or flour.

Then I saw these blankets on Etsy:

click here for the photo source

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I. DIE.

Seriously though.  I can’t.  If I was a little girl I would be harassing my mom to get me one (I kind of want one as an adult lol).   I scoured Etsy and the rest of the net for something a little more affordable than $75 for a toddler-sized blanket and found nothing. Only problem being that I can’t crochet or knit, but I can try to craft something together.  I never really sewed anything more than a few straight stitches to hem or mend a few things here and there, I definitely consider myself a novice.  If I can make this, so can you.  Here’s what I did:

First, I decided on the dimensions.  I needed the blanket to be loose enough to get in and out of and long enough to pull up to the underarms for maximum snuggle :).  I also wanted the girls to be able to put their feet in the fins.   Here’s a quick sketch that I drew up and followed.

I grabbed some big paper and pulled off a long piece (wrapping paper would work if you don’t have huge paper).  I folded it in half (tall and skinny) and drew on the tail shape according to my desired dimensions.  I did it this way so it comes out evenly when I unfolded the paper.

I unfold the template and set it aside so I can grab some coffee.   Ah! Better.  Ok let’s resume.  I took some very soft plush fabric and folded that in half.

I wanted to cut the front and the back to match the template.  So I place the paper tail on top of the folded fabric.

Cut the shape out of the fabric.  You should now have two pieces.  One for the front of the blanket and one for the back.

I wanted the fin to look different from the rest, but didn’t want to use two different colors, although you could!  I found this fabric to layer on top of the fin section.  How perfect was this find?!

I cut this fabric just a tiny bit bigger than the fin shape to leave a little “seam forgiveness”.  I sewed the top part onto the front of the blanket to line up with the fin shape first.  Then I turned the front and back pieces together so it’s inside out.  Sew them together and add a ruffle trim on the top for a fun finished look.  I kind of like a little imperfection to give it a more hand-made look, so I made one fin a little different.

I kind of want one for myself 😛  If you have a little (or big) girl on your gift list this year, I think you have just found the prefect gift.  Toss this blankie in a bag with a book and a tiara and you’re good to go.

For more D-I-Y posts, check out the projects page by clicking here.