Description
I love making loveys!! They’re just so much fun. But sometimes sewing the head on the blanket can be stressful – especially when you’re assembling a lovey with a square blanket without a well-defined center. My friend, Courtney, took some pictures to help explain the process a little better.
First, gather your supplies. You will need your finished blanket and pieces from your project (Courtney is using my Kissie the Kitty Lovey pattern to demonstrate), stitch markers, a yarn needle, and scissors.
The first step is to find the middle of your blanket. Fold the blanket in half, then in half again so it looks kind of like a diamond. Then, using a stitch marker, mark the center of the blanket.
Using stitch markers, attach the head to the blanket. Courtney added 2 markers – one at the front of the head, one at the back.
With the long tail you have left over from closing the head of your project, sew the head to the blanket. Sew through the blanket, and bring the needle back up through the bottom of the head.
Continue sewing in this manner – take your needle through the blanket and back up through the bottom of the head – all the way around the head. When you get back to where your sewing began, take the stitch markers out. You might want to go around a few times to ensure a sturdy seam. (I like to go around the head at least twice.)
When you’re done sewing the head to the center of the blanket, fasten off, and weave the tail through some stitches on the underside of the blanket. When you’re all done weaving in your end, your lovey should look like Courtney’s.
Now, we’re going to attach the arms! Once again, make sure you have some stitch markers and your yarn needle handy.
Using the stitch markers, line your arms up where you would like them – usually one on each side of the head.
Thread your yarn needle with the end leftover from sewing the edges of your arms shut, and sew the arms to the blanket. Take your needle down through the blanket, pull it back up, then pass it through the arm. Continue sewing across the edge of the arm. You might also want to anchor the arms to the bottom of the head. Follow the same directions to do this – take your yarn needle through the arm, down through the blanket, then back up through the very bottom of the head. Continue across the edge of the arm. Do this for both arms.
When you’re done sewing your arms to your blanket, fasten off, and weave in the ends on the underside of the blanket. And you’re done!! You have successfully created your lovey!
The same principles apply to sewing heads and arms onto other styles of lovey blankets, too. Blankets that are made in the round (like granny squares and circular blankets) are just easier to assemble because the center is well-defined. The head of your creation gets sewn directly over the Magic Ring, and the arms get sewn into round 1. (Remember – for my patterns, the Magic Ring isn’t counted as a round!)
I hope you found this tutorial interesting! Please make sure you send some love to Courtney for helping out with this post! You can find her on Facebook and Instagram!
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