How to Sew a Throw Blanket
A throw blanket is a big project that is surprisingly hard to get wrong, because almost everything happens in long straight seams. This version uses two layers and a simple self binding, so there is no separate binding strip to wrestle with.
Materials
- 1.5 yards of 60 inch wide fleece or wool blend
- 1.5 yards of cotton backing
- Matching thread
- Quilting thread for the ties
Tools
- Tape measure
- Fabric scissors
- Sewing machine with a walking foot
- Pins or clips
- Iron
Steps
- 01
Decide the size
A lap throw is usually 50 by 60 inches, while a bed throw runs closer to 60 by 80. Measure your sofa or bed and add 6 inches of drape on any side you want covered.
- 02
Cut both layers
Cut the top fabric 4 inches wider and longer than the finished size, and cut the backing to match. The extra 4 inches all round gets folded over to the front to become the self binding.
- 03
Layer and pin
Lay the backing face up, then the top fabric face down on top, and pin around all four sides. If your fabric has a nap, check that both layers run the same way before pinning.
- 04
Sew and leave an opening
Stitch all the way round with a 1/2 inch seam allowance, but leave a 10 inch opening in the middle of one side for turning. Backstitch firmly on both sides of the gap.
- 05
Turn and press
Trim the corners diagonally and the seam allowance to 1/4 inch, then pull the blanket through the opening. Push the corners out, press the edges flat, and slip stitch the opening closed.
- 06
Secure the layers
Sew a few ties through both layers at the corners and every 12 inches across the blanket, using a double thread and small stitches. These stop the layers from shifting, so you can skip full quilting.
- 07
Finish the edge
Topstitch 1/2 inch from the edge all the way round, which closes the opening for good and gives the binding a crisp line. Press once more and shake the blanket out.
What the seam and the extra allowance are actually doing
The line you sew 1/2 inch from the raw edge is not a seam you will ever see again — once the blanket is turned, that stitching becomes the outer edge of the whole piece. Everything outside it, the 4 inches you added when cutting, ends up on the front as the banded border. That is why the allowance has to be generous. Cut only an inch or two of extra and there is nothing to turn and press flat, and the raw edges sit so close to the finished edge that a little fleece fuzz works its way out along the border. Keep the full 4 inches and you get both a border and a safe margin of fabric to fold out of sight.
Trimming the seam allowance from 1/2 inch down to 1/4 inch is the step that decides whether the edge lies flat or bulges. Two layers, fleece or wool blend plus cotton, make a stack of fabric that has to fit inside the turn; left at 1/2 inch it has nowhere to go and pushes the edge into a rounded lump. Cutting it back to 1/4 inch halves the amount of fabric competing for that space. The diagonal cut at each corner does the same job at the four points where the most fabric piles up — the aim is to remove bulk without getting close enough to the stitching to nick it.
Of the whole seam, only the 10 inch opening is under real strain, because you will drag the entire blanket out through it. That is why backstitching on both sides of the gap matters more than backstitching anywhere else on the seam: the two corners of the opening take all the pull. Make the gap a little too long rather than too short. 10 inches turns a lap throw easily and still disappears under the topstitching later.
The ties are structural, not decorative. Fleece or wool blend and cotton backing behave differently in the wash — cotton takes up, fleece does not — and over a season of use the two layers creep against each other and bunch at one end. A tie at each corner plus one every 12 inches divides the blanket into panels small enough that neither layer can slide far. Double thread and small stitches spread the load across more fabric, which is exactly what you want in fleece, where one long stitch is the stitch most likely to pull a hole.
Common mistakes, how to spot them, and how to fix them
A wavy seam is the most common failure, and it almost always comes from the feed dogs. Two layers this large are heavy, and if the bottom layer feeds faster than the top, the seam ripples and the blanket will not lie flat afterwards no matter how hard you press it. A walking foot is the real fix, because it drives the top layer at the same rate as the feed dogs underneath. Without one, pin every 4 inches as the article says, let the machine pull the fabric rather than steering or tugging it, and stop with the needle down whenever you need to move your hands.
Nap and directional prints are the second one, and they cannot be fixed after cutting. Lay both pieces out before you cut and look at them from the same side of the table: a fleece with a nap looks darker from one direction, and a printed cotton backing can end up sideways or upside down against the top. Pin a scrap of paper with an arrow drawn on it to the top of each piece to mark the direction, and check that both arrows point the same way before the right sides go together.
Bulky, rounded corners mean the allowance was not trimmed enough or the diagonal cut was too timid. Sew two small squares of the same two fabrics first, turn the sample and look at it — two minutes of testing tells you exactly how far to trim before you commit to the real thing. If you have already nicked the stitching, do not unpick the whole side. A short line of tiny stitches worked by hand over the nick, from the front, will hold it.
The last one is the opening. If the gap lands too close to a corner, or if you sew past it and have to unpick, the backstitching that was meant to reinforce the gap ends up stranded in the middle of the seam and you lose the reinforcement. Mark both ends of the 10 inches with pins before you start that side so you can see the gap coming, and stop with the needle down.
Choosing the top and the backing, and what a swap changes
Fleece is the forgiving choice for the top. It does not fray, so the raw edges inside the turn will not unravel, and it hides imperfect topstitching better than a flat weave. The price is bulk and stretch. It is thick, which makes trimming the allowances at the corners more important, and it has give, so an ordinary straight stitch can pucker or tunnel along a long seam — lengthen the stitch slightly and let the walking foot do the work.
A wool blend gives you something fleece never will: an edge that presses into a crisp, tailored line, which pays off all the way around the topstitched border. It is heavier to push through the machine, and it does not tolerate heat, so pre-shrink it and wash it cool. Whichever you pick for the top, test the stretch before you cut. Pull a scrap across the grain, and if it gives easily, treat every seam on the project as a stretch seam.
The cotton backing is doing three jobs: it is the smooth side that rests against the sofa, it gives the fleece enough body that the blanket does not feel like a sleeping bag, and it is the layer that takes and holds a press. Swap it for flannel and the reverse gets warmer and softer, but flannel sheds lint into the seams and slides more under the needle, so the ties every 12 inches stop being optional and become essential. An old cotton sheet works, provided you check it against the light first — a worn patch will tear along the tie holes.
Thread matters more than people expect on a project this size. All-purpose polyester is fine for the long seams because it has a little stretch of its own. Save the quilting thread for the ties: it is stronger and slightly stiffer, so the knots sit firmly instead of working loose, which is what you want from the one part of this blanket that gets pulled every time it is used.
Variations for a different look or a different skill level
The easiest change is the border. The band on the front is set by how much extra you cut, so cutting 6 inches instead of 4 gives you a wider, more deliberate frame, and cutting less gives a narrow edge that reads almost like piping. Change the backing to a contrasting colour at the same time and the reverse becomes a second, different-looking blanket — fleece on one side, a solid or a print on the other.
If you want loft, add a layer of cotton batting between the two fabrics and quilt it instead of tying it. Plan on more machine time and a heavier blanket, and test that your machine handles the thickness at the corners before you commit. This version stops being a 2 hour 30 minute project: the quilting alone is likely to take longer than the rest of the blanket put together.
A pieced top is the version to try once the long straight seams feel routine. Sew the top from large rectangles before you layer anything, press the seams open, then treat the finished panel as your top fabric and cut it with the same 4 inch allowance. A pieced top has more seams to align but far less stretch than whole fleece, so it feeds through the machine more evenly than the plain version.
For a beginner, the shortcut is in the finishing, not the construction. Skip the hand slip stitching on the opening and simply pin it closed as carefully as the rest of the edge: the topstitching 1/2 inch in runs straight across the gap and seals it, as long as the raw edges are pressed in and the pins hold them while the needle passes. Keep the slip stitch if you want the gap to look already closed from the back before the topstitching goes in.
Finishing, washing, and keeping it in one piece
The last press is what makes the blanket look made rather than assembled. Work around the border with steam, pressing the band flat against the seam line rather than stretching the edge out, then let it cool completely before you move it — a warm blanket folded straight off the iron creases along the fold. Give the whole thing a hard shake afterwards. It settles the layers, and it shows up any spot where a tie is taking all the strain.
Pre-wash the cotton backing before you cut it. Cotton takes up in the first wash and fleece does not, so if you skip this and then wash the finished blanket for the first time, the backing shrinks while the top stays put and the neat edge you pressed starts to pucker between the ties. Once the blanket is made, wash it cool on a gentle cycle and dry it on low or line dry. Heat is what felts a wool blend and pills fleece.
Check the ties every few washes. They take the whole load of two layers moving against each other, and a loose one means the fabrics have already started to creep apart in that panel. Re-stitch it with the same double thread, and add a second tie a couple of inches away if the fabric around the loose one feels thin. Store the blanket folded rather than hung: hanging a two-layer throw from one edge puts the entire weight of the blanket on the row of ties along that edge.
If a seam at the opening ever splits, it is a ten-minute repair. Unpick the topstitching across the gap, turn the blanket back through it, and re-sew that stretch following the original stitching line. Between the ties and the topstitched border, there is nothing else on this blanket likely to fail first.
Frequently asked questions
- The materials list says 1.5 yards of 60 inch wide fabric. Will that make the 60 by 80 bed throw?
- No — 1.5 yards is the quantity for the 50 by 60 lap throw. The bed throw finishes at 60 by 80, and once you add the 4 inch allowance on every side you need pieces around 64 by 84 before sewing, which is longer than 60 inch wide yardage can give you in a single piece. Buy more yardage, or seam two lengths together for the top and treat the joined panel as one piece.
- Do I have to hand slip stitch the 10 inch opening, or will the topstitching close it on its own?
- The topstitching 1/2 inch from the edge runs across the gap and closes it permanently, so the slip stitch is optional. What it buys you is control: the hand stitches hold the pressed raw edges together while the machine crosses the gap, so the border does not wobble or fold under. If you skip it, pin the gap every inch or so and sew across it slowly, then check from the back that no raw edge escaped before you press.
- Can I skip the ties and just leave the two layers loose?
- Not on a blanket this size. The tie at each corner and every 12 inches across is what replaces a full quilting job. Without them the cotton backing and the fleece slide against each other and the blanket ends up bunched at one end with a doubled-up edge. If you do not want knots on the surface, machine quilt a few straight lines across the width instead, spaced about the same 12 inches apart, and backstitch at both edges.
- My finished edges came out wavy instead of straight. Can it be fixed?
- Sometimes. Press it first: a wavy edge that relaxes under steam, with the band pressed flat against the seam line, often just needed the press it did not get before topstitching. If it is still wavy, the seam stretched as it was sewn — unpick that side, re-pin every 4 inches, and re-sew it with a walking foot or with the fabric supported so its weight is not dragging on the needle. Trimming the seam allowance shorter will not fix waviness; it only makes the edge harder to press out.