Weighted Blanket

I have been wanting to make a weighted blanket for a while. Here is what I came up with...

I bought some Poly Pellets from Walmart.com. I found the 10 pound box to be the cheapest. I also got some stuffing from Walmart. The only other thing you need is the fabric you want to make the blanket out of. I bought a yard of fabric for the top and a yard for the bottom. The amount of fabric just depends on how big you want to make your blanket. For a 4-5 pound blanket, the yard of fabric was more than enough.

For the width of the 4 pound blanket, I just cut the fabric in half. The length was about 48 inches. You can really make it as wide or long as you want. The next ones I do, I will make a little wider. 

Start by putting the top and bottom pieces of fabric together. You want to pin them together so they are inside out. You will flip it right side out later. (At this point, the bright sides of the fabric should not be visible on the outside.) 

Sew both sides together. The top and bottom of the blanket should be left open. 

Now, flip the fabric right side out. The colors and prints are now visible, the sides are sewn shut and the top and bottom should remain open.

Sew a horizontal line across the middle of the blanket. If you look at the picture above, you can see where I pinned the middle line. I used a pencil and a ruler to make sure my line was straight.

Next, decide how many columns you want for your blanket. For this size blanket, I divided it into four columns. Pin and sew three vertical lines down the entire blanket. (If you are making a larger blanket, you will want more columns.) 

The next step is to mark out the rest of the horizontal rows. I decided to do 4 rows on each half. I used a pencil and a ruler to mark out each row. Each square measured 5x6 inches. 

Each square has about 1/2 cup of poly pellets and a handful of the stuffing. I didn't measure out the stuffing; I just tried to grab about the same amount each time. 

I added the pellets and the stuffing in each column. Use your hand to evenly place the stuffing. Then I pined the fabric at the line I had already drawn. I sewed the row to create four squares. 

You repeat that process until the rows on that half of the blanket are finished. (It is important to sew a line down the middle so you can reach your hand in the column to smooth out the stuffing in each square.) 

Flip the blanket around and repeat the process for the second half of the blanket. 

This is what the finished product looks like. The hardest part is sewing the ends together. Make sure you pin it before you sew it. I did a double stitch at the top and bottom of the blanket. 

Here is another one I made where the squares were a little bit bigger. (5 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches).