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Betz White, Author of "Sewing Green" shares her design for a surprisingly versatile Duck cloth picnic blanket made from organic cotton and hemp. With her simple pattern you can make a traveling blanket that doubles as a large satchel to gather all your picnic fixings when you head home. The same blanket can be strung up above from its corner D-rings to create same shade on a sunny afternoon.
Materials:
1 ½ yards of 54-inch duck cloth canvas
Four 2-inch D-rings
4-inch length of 1-inch wide Velcro (sew-on type)
24-inch length of 1 ½-inch wide webbing
Thread
Tools:
Fabric shears
Straight pins
Iron
Pencil
Ruler
Sewing Machine
Directions for the Blanket:
1. Wash and press fabric. Fabric should measure about 54-inches square.
2. Lay fabric on work surface wrong side up. Using a ruler and pencil, draw a line at a 45 degree angle 2-inches from one of the corners. Cut off corner on pencil line. Repeat for other 3 corners. Turn and press each cut corner edge over with a ½-inch fold. Stitch along edge of corner folds with a 3/8-inch seam allowance.
3. Turn and press four sides of 54-inch square over ½-inch. Stitch along length of each side with a 3/8-inch seam allowance. Turn and press sides over again with a 1-inch fold creating a miter corner at each corner. Pin folds and miters in place and stitch 1-inch folds down with a 7/8-inch seam allowance.
4. Thread one D-ring onto one corner of the blanket. Fold the corner back towards the wrong side of the fabric and pin. Topstitch across the point 2-3 times to secure the D-ring. Repeat for the other 3 corners.
Directions for the Carry Strap:
1. Zig-zag over the ends of a 24" length of webbing.
2. Separate a 4-inch strip of Velcro tape and pin one side to webbing, ½" from end. Topstitch around perimeter of Velcro strip. Turn webbing over and pin other side of Velcro tape to the opposite side of the webbing, ½-inch from end. Topstitch around perimeter of Velcro strip.
Special Thanks:
Betz White: www.betzwhite.com
Rowenta: www.rowentausa.com
Janome: www.janome.com