Whoever invented the fancy picnic blankets that have the vinyl backside to prevent damp blankets and bums is a genius! Unfortunately, those blankets usually come with a pretty high price tag. And because I'm always looking for ways to save a buck here and there, I thought I'd make one using a vintage tablecloth from the thrift store. (I find them all the time for about $2.00.)
Here's a look at how I made the one above...
Lay vintage tablecloth flat and trim to size desired. (I had already used some of this one to make makeup bags and snack baggies. So it had to be trimmed up a bit.)
This tablecloth was made with a hole in the center for an umbrella. I just cut a circle out from the trimmed up portion and zigzag stitched a patch.
Using an old blanket we had lying around, I spread out the blanket first and then laid the trimmed tablecloth on top.
Next, I pinned my edges and then cut the blanket to match the size of the vintage tablecloth.
I then sewed the blanket and vintage tablecloth together using my serger. (You could easily stitch this on your machine as well, but I love the fact that the serger trims as it sews.)
Once my edges were sewn together, I pinned a ribbon close onto the side. And then added my double fold bias tape all the way around the blanket. I used two packages, 3 yards each.
In my first attempt, I put the ribbon closure in the middle and onto the soft blanket side. Fail. This didn't allow for easy folding and it puckered at the edge when all wrapped up. Yuck.
So after some seam-ripping, I tried this again. This time I moved the ribbon close to a corner and to the vinyl side. Much better.
Here's the pretty little picnic blanket all folded, rolled up and tied.
Now she's all ready for summer fruit, family and friends.
This was a super easy project that took all of an hour or two. Okay, it took me a lot longer than that, but I had a ton of distractions. I also ran out of bias tape so I had to make it in two days rather than one. But, if I took out all those little hiccups, it was easily completed in a couple of hours or less. Can't wait for the temps to go way down and put this baby to use. xo
