Make your own Weighted Blanket - Cheap and Fast

Weighted blankets are all the rage! and while they do certainly have benefits they can be expensive!!  

It was thought that my son would benefit from one to help him sleep longer.  I know there can be varying opinions and as he is very young we kept the weight light and of course added some fun extra details that appealed to him.   Here's how we did ours for a fraction of the cost and you can too!  

 Supplies:

• 1 pound of white or clear smooth Quality Plastic Pellets per 10 pounds of weight for the user, plus one extra pound  We used Victory Plastic Pellets and ordered the amount we needed.  Not super cheap but still cheaper than buying a blanket.  We found the quality and weight to be ideal after reading many reviews. 

• Fabric of your choice – we chose minky because it’s so soft  Remember to use your coupons (we love JoAnns!) to get fabric cheaper. Sales and coupons combined really cut the cost of a blanket. 
• Thread
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Crayola Washable Markers 
• A small scale
• Pins
• Sewing machine
• Walking Foot (optional but helpful especially if you use minky material)
• Ribbons (optional)

 Putting it together:

1.      Determine the size- you may want to research this! If you’re using a heavy fabric like minky, you may want to weigh it before beginning and add this weight into the total of your blanket.

2.      After you have your blanket size ready, place the fabrics right sides together.  Optional:  If your child likes tags, place several ribbon loops inside the material and pin towards outer edge.

3.      Sew ¼-inch seam and a 1/2-inch seams around the two long sides and one short side leaving one side open for adding your pellets. The double seam helps strengthen the outside seams.  We also used a walking foot because of the minky and set the machine to a small stitch length (1.5).

4.      Turn the fabric inside out.  Iron the edges.  Note:  If you are using the minky material with the dots – the dots will iron out so be careful with ironing this type of minky!

5.    Make a grid -usually 4-6 inch sqaures are average.  To mark the grid Crayola Washable Markers are a great tool!

We put measured amounts in red solo cups and then our little helper helped pour them into the columns!

6.      Sew along the vertical lines to make columns. When sewing your vertical lines, leave a 2” space at top of your quilt.

7.      Once all the columns are ready, pour the pellets in.  We were not super accurate with our measurements and the blanket still turned out great.  A little uneven distribution is not noticeable.    (Blanket weight in ounces/number of squares you have = number of ounces per square)

8.      Sew the 1st horizontal line.  HINT:  Keep the side with the pellets to the left of your machine and check to make sure pellets are below sewing line.  Keep going until you reach the top.

9.   Fold in the 2” of fabric that are left over, then close  using the ¼” and ½” seam process.

10.  CONGRATULATIONS Now you have a #DIYWeightedBlanket

We added some fun tags to the outside and used minky fabric to be kid friendly.  We have had good results and even jealousy over the "cool" blanket!
**It definitely improved sleep quality over here**  A great tool to have in our parenting arsenal.

Cost Comparison: 

$18.99 (pellets- 5 lbs) + $15.00  fabric (or less with coupons!) =  $34.00 

In stores a 5lb weighted blanket retails from $70-120!

That's a 50%+ savings!