Make a No Sew Fleece Blanket Your Dog Will Love

Fleece is a HUGE hit with animals in my house… especially in the winter. I discovered the hard way, it’s best to bite the bullet and get them each their own fleece so that I may use my fleece in peace! (Look at that… I’m a poet and I didn’t even know it.)

Of course, I wanted something cute and I wanted them to be matchy but not too matchy. So off I went to the craft store during a 50% off fleece sale! I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied unless I made the blankets myself. You can do it too! Way easy, cheap when you hit a sale, and one can be completed in an evening.

Step One:
Gather your fleece, a large ruler, scissors and marking chalk. You will need 2 layers of fleece per blanket. For pet blankets, I find one yard of each is plenty (I have Labs and one yard blankets are perfect). If you want to do a people blanket, you’re probably going to want 2 yards of each fleece.

Step Two:
Cut off the selvages on each piece of fleece. There will be 2 selvages on each piece. One selvage is usually white with printing on it and the other usually looks like the rest of the fleece, but has tiny holes in it – you really want to remove them for a nice finish. (Save the selvages! Knot them together in various ways and boom: instant dog toy!) Then lay your fleece pieces on top of each other – they don’t have to match up EXACTLY. In this case, close is good enough. If your fleece has a “right” and “wrong” side, you want wrong sides together.

Step Three:
Mark off a four inch square in each corner.

Step Four:
Along each side in between the squares you just made, mark off strips that are one inch wide and four inches deep. THIS DOES NOT NEED TO BE PERFECT. If you are good at cutting straight, even lines (I am not!) you don’t necessarily have to do such detailed marking. I find these measurements give you enough room to make the knots without it being too bulky and without making more cuts than necessary. If you use marking chalk, most of it will brush off as you cut and knot.

Step Five:
First, cut out the squares in each corner. Then cut your fringe. Make sure you are cutting through BOTH layers of fleece! Again, nothing here needs to be absolutely perfect! Once the knots are tied, little imperfections won’t be noticed.

Note before knotting!
I have found there is a “pretty” way to tie the knots and a “not as pretty” way. The pretty way is to keep both layers of fleece together and do a loop knot.

The not as pretty way is to separate the two layers and tie them together.

Step Six:
Start tying your knots. I suggest tying the 2 knots at each corner first and then you can move yourself and the blanket to the couch to finish up. Once all your knots are tied, you’re done!

Variations:
– On one side, knot the layers individually instead of the two layers together and you will have a snuggle sack for pets who like to burrow! (This is GREAT in a smaller version for hedgehogs!)

-Tie 3 sides together and before tying the last side, insert a pillow or other stuffing to make a bed.

The blanket pictured in this tutorial is for my cat, Oliver. My dogs, Kayla and Ellie, already had theirs and he kept stealing them (or my Snuggie!). Now everyone has their own fleece and all is right in the world.

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