Easy Sew Blanket and Coordinating Tags

This easy sew blanket is a fantastic teacher gift for this holiday season.

I've also got some fun free printable coordinating tags you can use with this warm & cozy present.

Even more fun? This is a HOP! I've teamed up with some super fun blogger friends to bring you several fun holiday teacher gift ideas. Check them all out below, along with my complete tutorial for this easy sew blanket and free printable tags that coordinate perfectly.

Be sure to stop by and check out all of the holiday gifts for teachers at my friends' blogs!
And a big THANK YOU to Kim from Hunt & Host for organizing this fun hop.

Teacher Holiday Gift Ideas From:
Hunt & Host | 11 Magnolia Lane | Craving Some Creativity 
Robb Restyle | I Should Be Mopping The Floor
My Life From Home | Lehman Lane

Now, let's make us a blanket, shall we? To be clear, when I say "easy sew", I probably should have said "easy stitch"...because technically, we're not even sewing anything together here. We're just creating a finishing stitch along the fringed edge of the blanket to give it a clean look. And I just love the small hint of red thrown into the black and white buffalo check pattern.

Seriously...couldn't be any easier than thread and fabric, right? I grabbed a bold buffalo check fleece at Hobby Lobby. Using buffalo check makes this even easier. The in-place grid system makes it simple to both cut and sew. Since fleece doesn't really fray, this is a project that will not make you pull out your hair and say mean words to your fabric.

For a standard lap throw, use 1 1/2 yards of fleece. I based this tutorial on a bold buffalo check, so if you use a different pattern, you'll need to take more accurate measurements. My pattern here dictated my "measurements".

I actually grabbed the last of the buffalo check fleece on the bolt, so I had to trim off the messy edge. I wanted good, clean lines on the edges that matched up to the pattern.

I prefer a longer fringe, so I used two whole squares all the way around the edge of the blanket as the fringe border. To give it that polished look, I simply used my zig zag stitch on my machine and went around the entire blanket (two squares in from the edges). Again, I didn't sew anything together...I just made a stitch on my fleece. This also is the defining line for where the fringe will begin.

The stitch does not go all the way to the edge of the blanket, but rather turns the corner and stays along the same line all around the blanket. 

It's not a perfect line, but I tried my best to stay two squares in from the edge, as evenly as possible.

Once I had the stitch around the entire blanket, I cut out the corners, being careful not to cut the stitch at all. Using the buffalo check as a pattern, I cut out the four squares of the corner.

I honestly kind of eye-balled the fringe, about four strips to a square. 
Scissors work just fine for this, but a rotary cutter makes quick work of it.

I'm really happy with how it came out. If you want to make a heavier blanket, consider actually sewing another piece of fleece on the underside...a solid red fleece would be super cute. Here in Texas, just one layer is all we need, but for warmth, feel free to beef it up. I used my 40% off coupon at HobLob on the fabric, so it came out to a little less than $10.

This makes the perfect teacher gift, too! 
I made this in less than two hours and for less than $10...that's a win-win in my book.

Grab these coordinating tags for your teacher! I included some neutral tags, too.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOURS.
These print best on card stock.

Be sure to visit all of my friends' blogs for even more teacher holiday gift ideas!

What are your favorite gifts to give those who take care of your kiddos?

Neglect your chores like me and don't miss a thing:

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