Crochet guide
Lining a crochet blanket with fabric
To line a crochet blanket, wash the fabric first, cut it to the size of the blanket, pin it to the wrong side and sew it on round the edge by hand. Fleece is the simplest backing: it does not fray, so it needs no hem.
On this page 8 parts
Why line a blanket
A fabric backing covers the wrong side of a blanket and the yarn ends woven into it. A fleece backing also adds a warm layer. A backing is added to a blanket that is already finished.
Which fabric
- Fleece. A warm fabric that holds body heat. It does not fray, so its cut edges need no hem. This makes it the simplest backing to sew on.
- Flannel or cotton. These fray. Their edges are folded under and sewn before the backing goes on.
Wash the fabric first
Wash and dry the fabric before you cut it. Cotton and other natural fibers shrink in their first wash. If the backing shrinks after it is sewn on, the work is spoiled. Synthetic fabric is prewashed too, to check for color that runs.
Cut it to size
Measure the finished blanket lying flat.
- Fleece, with no hem: one how-to cuts it a little smaller than the blanket, by 1/4 to 1/2 in (0.6 to 1.3 cm) on every side.
- Flannel or cotton, with a hem: cut it larger than the blanket by the width of the hems. Fold each edge to the wrong side and sew it down.
Sew it on by hand
Stitch names on this page are United States terms, with the United Kingdom name in brackets where it differs.
- Lay the backing and the blanket together, wrong side to wrong side, so that both good sides face out.
- Pin the two together all round. If pins slip out of fleece, use safety pins.
- Thread a sewing needle with sewing thread that matches the yarn.
- Sew round the edge with an overcast stitch, which is a whip stitch. One how-to takes each stitch through the edge of the fabric and then through one strand of a crochet stitch.
- Keep the stitches even all the way round. Fasten off the thread.
No sewing machine is needed for a backing that does not fray.
Or crochet it on
Fleece can be joined to a blanket with a hook and no sewing. One teacher does it in two rounds.
- Holes are cut in the fleece, 1 in (2.5 cm) in from the edge, with a toothed blade on a rotary cutter. A round of single crochet (UK double crochet) with a chain between stitches is worked into the holes, with a small hook.
- The blanket is laid on the fleece, both good sides out. A round of single crochet is worked through the edge of the blanket and the round on the fleece together.
Crochet edging on fabric covers how a hook gets into cloth.
Washing a lined blanket
The lined blanket is now two materials. Wash it the way the gentler of the two needs: go by the yarn's label and by the fabric's. How to wash crochet covers the yarn.
Where to go next
- Finishing a blanket for the steps that come before a backing.
- Lining a crochet bag for a lining sewn as a pouch.
- Sewing crochet to fabric, and things onto crochet for the hand stitches.