How to Make a Fringe Blanket

Fringe blankets are quite popular for portrait photography but can come with a high price tag.  They make beautiful, colorful props for photographing little ones.  I used my homemade loom (shown in the previous post) to weave rainbow-colored yarn into a 2'X3' blanket with 2' long tassels.  

1. Cutting the yarn to length:

Because I had marked half inch increments on my loom in order to put it together, it was pretty easy to measure and cut the yarn.  Place the boards 2 feet apart and clamp them to the table.  Tie one yarn color to the first nail on one of the boards.  To make a 6 foot length of yarn, just wrap the yarn around to to the 1 foot mark on each board to make a rectangle.  If you are making a 3'X2' blanket, then wrap each color around 1 time for every nail between 0 and 3 feet.  For example, if there are 25 nails then you make 25 rounds of yarn.  After making the final round, cut the yarn at the point where you tied the yarn to start with.  After cutting each color to the 6 foot length, then make a 9 foot length for each color in the same manner.  Just think about the perimeter of the rectangle that your are creating.  You can easily adjust the lengths depending on your size preference.  Place these materials in separate areas so that they don't get mixed up. 

 2. Tying the Yarn
Separate yarn colors into the strands that you would like to have together in your blanket.  I put one of each color in every strand.  Using one length and setting the other length aside, tie each strand between two nails of the loom as shown below.  Make sure that the yarn is taught. 

3. Shuttle
To make the weaving process easier, make a very simple shuttle out of cardboard and a binder clip.  Just take one strand of yarn, place the end over the cardboard, and clip it in place.  This will help the strand glide easily through the yarn already attached to the loom.

4. Weave!
Weave each strand through the attached pieces, working each strand opposite the adjacent pieces.  If strand one is over, under, over, under, then strand two should be under, over, under, over.  You get the idea. 

 5. Finishing Touches
To keep yarn from sliding about too much, tie a large knots to the far end of the blanket.  I clumped tassels from 5 to 6 strands together.  Then untie the yarn that is attached to the loom, except for the strand closest to you.  This strand will keep the others from sliding too far down.  Use your fingers to comb the now untied pieces toward you, making a more dense and tight weave. 

 

Lastly, you need to fasten the ends together.  Use a yarn needle to make an x over each row of the blanket.  I worked my way across one way first making only a diagonal over each joint, and then came back through the opposite way to complete the x.  Be sure that this is tight, and that yarn doesn't easily pull out. 

That's it!  You've just created a fringe blanket to add to your collection of photography props, or to take to your own child's next photo session.  Once little Everett comes around, you'll probably see this appear in some cute pictures!  I hope you found these instructions helpful, and that you find many more uses for the loom. 

Home-made Loom

It's been a while since I've posted. This summer has gotten by me quickly. The loom project was a success! This home-made version of a loom fits really nicely in a closet and is easy to set up and use.

Materials:

- Hammer
- 1.2 to 2 inch nails
- Two thin boards about 4 or 5 feet long (I asked for scraps cut to 5 feet and the guy at home depot only charged me 50 cents.)
- Pencil
- yard stick, ruler, or tape measure
- 4 C-clamps












Directions:
1. Draw a straight line down the center of each board lengthwise. Use your measuring tool to mark where the nails will be. I chose to make a mark every 1.5" along the center line.











2. Pound a nail into the board at each mark. Make sure that it's deep enough to stick, but give your self enough length to wrap your yarn around.











3. That's it!  Just attach it to any table in the house with the c-clamps, and start weaving. 





To store your loom.  Put the two boards back-to-back, and clamp together with your c-clamps. 




This will work great for weaving blankets and rugs.  I think I'd like to try to make a rag rug with this. 

Counting Down

Fringe Blanket/Hammock

I've had my eyes on fringe blankets for a while.  These props can help create wonderfully dramatic photos, and I'm always looking for ways to make my portraits more creative.  If you're not sure what I mean, just check out these images (Google Images of Fringe Blankets).  Now that we have our own little bundle of joy on the way, I MUST have one.  MUST!  You can find these all over Etsy, and I almost caved and just purchased one.  But, the miserly woman in me said, "NO, you're not allowed!  You can make this."  So, no matter how many projects I have going on at the moment, I'm adding this one to the list.  I have scoured the internet for different ways to do this.  There are several methods, depending on what you want. All of these methods use yarns of various colors and textures to make a very rich yet ragged looking fringe edge. 

Fringe Blanket:

• Crochet or knit a small blanket and then tie yarn to the perimeter.  There are lots of patterns available on Etsy.
• Doily Method: Buy a dollar store doily and tie on the fringe.

Fringe Hammock:

• Crochet or knit a hammock, and then tie yarn to the edges.
• Weave a hammock using a home-made loom, leaving extra length to each side.  Then tie the fringe in knots to secure the weave.  You can also run the edges of the woven portion through a sewing machine to be extra sure that the weave is secured. 

To make a more versatile prop, I've decided to go with the hammock model for my first fringy.  Since I have crocheted a hammock before and it took a fairly long time, I would like to try weaving.  With a quilt and a baby blanket in the works, I can't afford to spend too much time on this.  Of the fringe hammocks that Ive seen out there, the woven ones also seem most secure under a little ones fragile body.  I don't have a loom, so the first order of business is to make a basic loom.

Making a Loom:
If you're like me, you probably don't have a large space to store a 3ft by 5 ft frame loom.  Again, I consulted my trusted source.... youtube.  I found several videos for making very complicated or large looms, and then stumbled upon one that was a simple rake loom.  It's just a thin board with nails pounded into it. 


What I plan to do tomorrow, is make two of these at a 3 foot length.  Then I'll attach these to either end of my kitchen table with c-clamps.  Once I've assembled my makeshift loom, I'll be ready to weave. 

Hopefully I'll get time to finish this project soon.  Look for an update.  I'll be back soon with photos of how this all worked out.

Why I became who I am

Long ago, when my sister and I began to get curious about where babies came from and finally worked up the courage to ask, my mother told us that one of us came form a thrift store and the other came from a yard sale.  Very funny, mom.  This was a perfectly fitting and hilarious answer because just about everything we wore, played with, or snuggled up to at night came from either a yard sale or what we called the "sleek boutique".  Needless to say, as we grew up, we learned from her every trick to living on a budget while still discovering the great finds that can be found from being thrifty.

I am also from a small town.  When I say small I mean that there are more cows than people, my graduating class had a whopping total of 78 kids, we call it a CRICK not a creek, and there are no stop lights within the town's borders.  Really small!  Because I was raised in one of these rare underdeveloped gems that are left in today's world, I had the privilege of being surrounded by my 100 plus person extended family and living down the road from my crafty grandma.  Whenever we went to grandma's house there was always something to make or do.  She taught me at an early age how to sew and crochet.  I still remember sitting on the davenport making chains and whining, "When will I actually make something."  Her response, of course, was patient as ever: "When I see that you've got a good chain stitch going, we can work on making something out of it."  Aunt Suzie was also a teacher of crafty ways.  She showed us how to take something simple and create beauty.  I never truly understood how valuable these little crafting lessons would be until I reached adulthood.  I hadn't crocheted since I was a kid, but when I suddenly had the urge to make precious baby items for my portraits, that chain stitch came right back to me.  When one of my students asked me to show her how to make a snowflake, I showed her how to make elaborate designs containing angels, snowmen, and various other embellishments.  Their teachings were truly a gift. 

Now, it's my turn to teach.  As I venture off on my new journey of becoming a mom, I plan to thrift and create many necessities and accessories for my beloved little one.  I hope to share thrifty tricks and creative ideas with you all so that you, too, may benefit from the wisdom that has been passed on to me.