Isn’t there just something about a warm and cozy blanket that makes you feel loved when you wrap yourself up in it! We are a blanket loving house and have them in baskets everywhere…the family room, the 3 season room, and piles in the bedrooms of each child. To me, the best kind of blankets are the ones made by hand…whether they were made by me, my kids, or even by someone else that found their way to our home via a thrift store or flea market. One of my favorite kinds of quick blankets to make are these fun Braided Edge Fleece Blankets. Similar in the beginning steps to those popular fleece tie-knot blankets you see everywhere but, in my opinion, these are so much prettier because of that braided edge!
How gorgeous is that braided edge? It looks so fancy doesn’t it?
Well, let me let you in on a little secret…they are super easy to make! You can make bunches of these while watching Netflix, you barely have to think, pinky swear!
Here is what you will need to make your very own Braided Edge Fleece Blanket:
1.5-2 yards of fleece
scissors
self-healing mat
hot glue gun (or needle and thread)
First thing you will need to do is square off the yardage of fleece you bought, then cut off a 4 inch square at each corner.
Then, fold over each side 2 inches and sew in place using a 1/4 seam allowance. You will now have a long tube on each side of your blanket. Next, make 3/4-1 inch cuts into each tube making loops. Be sure not to cut the seam you just sewed in place. 
Next, starting anywhere on the blanket, you can take one loop (on the right) and pull it through the loop next to it on the left. 
Continue doing this all around the blanket making a braid along the edge as you go.
When you get to the last loop, pull it through as much as you can (fleece has some stretch!) and then fold it over.
You can see a bit more clearly here how you would fold that last black/grey loop over (the loop folded over is in my right hand). Then hand sew it into place with a needle and thread or attach with a hot glue gun.
And there you go! A cute and pretty simple to make Braided Edge Fleece Blanket!
And thanks to Kimbo from A Girl And A Glue Gun, this cozy blanket can go to a great cause. She emailed me not long ago about #LukesLoves which is a blanket drive that collects blankets for Project Linus in memory of a sweet little boy named Luke.
If you would like to participate in this wonderful organization there are chapters all over and if you want to save on shipping you can find a location near you to drop off your blanket here: http://www.projectlinus.org/volunteer/)
Love,
So cool! I love how it looks! Thanks so much!
Anytime! Thanks so much for bringing this great cause to my attention!!
Thanks for sharing your idea. My daughter prepped 11 of these so she and her volleyball team could each have a nice fleece blanket (no knots!) at their all-day tournaments. Thanks!
That is so awesome, what a kind daughter you have!!! And what a great gift to her teammates…keeping everyone nice and cozy!!! Hope they all loved them!!
I am friends with a sweet couple who are in their 80s. He is confined to a wheel chair due to polio when he was in high school and he can’t take much weight on his legs. I had both knees replaced several years ago and now I can’t take much weight on my legs either, which got me to thinking about my friend. My great niece and I made one of these blankets for him for Christmas he has something nice to say about it every time I see him and his wife was the same way for a while. Personally, I’m ashamed that it took my surgery to get me to think about this sweet man and the fact that he’s always cold, even in the hottest part of our Texas summers. Thanks for the excellent idea to finish the edges the braids don'[t hurt if you lay on them but the knots sure do. I hope to donate blankets each year to other friends who need them.
What a wonderful story and how sweet you are to make this for your friend with your great niece! Thank you so much for sharing this with me, I am so glad this tutorial was useful to you! Many blessings to you!!!
xo,
Maggie
I am making a double-layered blanket for my sister and using this edging because I do not like the tied edges. It is interesting pulling both layers through each set of loops, but it seems to be working! Thanks for the great idea!
Kayla, Did you fold over and sew through both layers together? I’m having trouble figuring out how to do it with double layer, but I’ve bought my fleece for double layer already. It looks nicer sewn down. I ran across this site when I was trying to figure out the braid technique for double layer. I can sew straight lines, but that’s about it! Please respond!
when you’re done with this is it still rectangular edged (not super rounded edge) if that’s what you started out with?
It is long and rectangular but rounded a bit because of the way you do the corners!
The title is No Sew. What’s up with that. I expected a no sew pattern and was disappointed
You can also use a hot glue gun as the directions state! 🙂
Beautiful blanket question when you sew the 2 in on all sides can you use a sewing machine or by hand
You can do either one!