Anyone made their own weighted blanket?

[popmom]

This is not education related, so if you think I should move this to the chat forum, please let me know. Thanks

 

I realize most are probably taking a break from the forum for the holiday, but... I've been looking at tutorials for making weighted blankets. Everyone is saying 10% of body weight plus a pound or so. But what if you are making a blanket for an adult? All the websites offering weighted blankets for sale are giving this 10% guideline and then offering different sized blankets. A 3 ft by 6 ft blanket weighing 13 lbs is going to feel a lot different than a 4.5 ft by 6.5 ft blanket with the same weight. I feel like there needs to be a different standard--like pounds or ounces per sq ft. Does that make sense? 

 

My grandmother would be helping me make these. I need two. One for my oldest who weighs 130 lbs and one for my 11 year old who weighs 105. My 11 yr old is 5' 1" tall, so she needs an adult size blanket. She sleeps in a twin bed, so 3 by 6 would be plenty big for her.

 

I'd like to make a bigger blanket for my oldest, but I want to make sure that the felt pressure is right. It's a big project, so I want to get it right the first time, hopefully.

Edited November 23, 2017 by stephensgirls

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I have no advice for you, but I was just trying to explain the same issue to my mom, who is making a weighted blanket for my niece.  I get the impression that sewers are wicked good at geometry, but not as much at other areas of math.  ;-)  Kidding...  

[Mrs_JWM]

I've made one for my child, but it was smaller and more manageable - although still difficult. A friend makes them professionally, and she sews individual bags for the plastic pellets. I would definitely recommend this because wrestling the blanket under the needle while also making sure the pellets don't come out is HARD. But sewing the bags is time-consuming, too.

 

As far as the ratios, I think I would take into account how each person sleeps. If one spreads out, a blanket with pellets from side to side makes sense. But I wonder if you could just have a weighted section in the center and then have sections toward the edges unweighted. Then a large blanket would be more manageable and still maintain the sort of pressure in the area that the person is actually sleeping.

 

I also recommend making a washable cover for it, like a duvet cover. Washing them is a pain!

 

Good luck! My daughter was just thanking me again last night for making hers, and she's had it for at least five years.

 

 

 

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[popmom]

I had the same idea about a washable cover! That's exactly what I was thinking. I don't want to have to wash it. 

 

Thx for the idea for the individual bags for the beads. 

 

I've messaged a couple of sellers on Etsy about theirs. It seems that no one uses batting. Just fabric and beads. I'm going to see if I can add some batting to cushion the beads. Plus is seems like it might help minimize the beads shifting around inside the pockets. idk. I need to consult with my grandmother. ;) She's the expert quilter. Maybe batting just is too complicated. 

Edited November 24, 2017 by stephensgirls

[Mrs_JWM]

I had the same idea about a washable cover! That's exactly what I was thinking. I don't want to have to wash it.

 

Thx for the idea for the individual bags for the beads.

 

I've messaged a couple of sellers on Etsy about theirs. It seems that no one uses batting. Just fabric and beads. I'm going to see if I can add some batting to cushion the beads. Plus is seems like it might help minimize the beads shifting around inside the pockets. idk. I need to consult with my grandmother. ;) She's the expert quilter. Maybe batting just is too complicated.

My daughter has never mentioned anything about needing to be cushioned from the beads. They are lightweight, but the weight and pressure is cumulative, if that makes sense. Another option would be to lay the weighted blanket on top of the comforter, which would put a later of batting in between. I would definitely suggest having the batting later removable so that it's cool the summer. Or use a duvet and cover and pin the weighted blanket inside the duvet cover. I wish my dagger would do this because it would make it easier for her to make her bunk bed, but that's her problem, not mine! Instead, she prefers to sleep with the weighted blanket as her first layer and then everything else. We made one side of the cover fuzzy and one side stretchy so so it can be cool in the summer and extra snuggly in the winter. Then we made another cover out of minky fabric. Now I want a nap...

 

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[historically accurate]

We had one made last year - dd is 5'1" and 105 pounds. I think her blanket is 12 pounds, iirc.

 

Her blanket has a removable cover and then the sewer made an underblanket with the beads. The beads are separated into multiple little squares that are sewn shut so each have/retain an equal amount of beads. She sleeps with it over her quilt every night so she has "padding" between her and the blanket although she doesn't feel she needs it. 

 

Hopefully attaching pictures works as I've never tried before: https://postimg.org/image/d9wdb89ix/

 

https://postimg.org/image/i8jvpr5m1/

 

 

[xixstar]

Some tutorials have people adding a little puff of polyfil to each square - so some people make them more padded. I keep meaning to make one because I bought 50lbs of poly pellets for another craft and have tons left over. lol.

[popmom]

We had one made last year - dd is 5'1" and 105 pounds. I think her blanket is 12 pounds, iirc.

 

Her blanket has a removable cover and then the sewer made an underblanket with the beads. The beads are separated into multiple little squares that are sewn shut so each have/retain an equal amount of beads. She sleeps with it over her quilt every night so she has "padding" between her and the blanket although she doesn't feel she needs it. 

 

Hopefully attaching pictures works as I've never tried before: https://postimg.org/image/d9wdb89ix/

 

https://postimg.org/image/i8jvpr5m1/

 

Beckyjo, what are the dimensions of your dd's blanket? and do you feel like the 12 pounds is enough?

 

Sounds like a very thoughtfully made blanket.

 

Oh, and the picture worked!

[historically accurate]

Beckyjo, what are the dimensions of your dd's blanket? and do you feel like the 12 pounds is enough?

 

Sounds like a very thoughtfully made blanket.

 

Oh, and the picture worked!

 

It's a hair under 5' long (about 57") and about 3' wide (33").  She would prefer it to be slightly heavier; maybe 15 pounds would've been a better fit for her. 

 

So glad I figured out pictures!!

Edited November 24, 2017 by beckyjo

[ealp2009]

I have made weighted blankets for my kids. I made one when my son was 2 that he still uses at 8. It was only 7lbs but it is still reasonably effective. My daughters I made when she was 4 and it is 10lbs and is all still very effective. They are pretty simple to make but get heavier and more unwieldy as you add the poly beads.

 

 

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[exercise_guru]

There is a book at our library about how to make them I keep waiting for my turn so I can read it and make a blanket. Hopefully there is a diy guide out thwre so you dont have to get the book

Amazon sells adult sized weighted blankets that are 15lbs for a 140lb adult. That might give you a ball park idea.

 

Also it might be nice to make two lighter ones and then layer them. More versatile and less unwielding

 

I personally would stick with a cotton fabric both of my kids have nightmares if they sleep with poly sheets or blankets they run really hot at night and so I only use cotton pajamas and bedding.

Edited December 1, 2017 by exercise_guru

[coastalfam]

I made one once... it was messy, and tedious, and really difficult, and very small. Wouldn't do it again, but my son liked it. I think I just used and online tutorial for instructions. It was a long time ago.

[popmom]

I made one once... it was messy, and tedious, and really difficult, and very small. Wouldn't do it again, but my son liked it. I think I just used and online tutorial for instructions. It was a long time ago.

 

Yes, the more I'm looking at tutorials, the more scared I get to try! It does look difficult.

[xixstar]

Yes, the more I'm looking at tutorials, the more scared I get to try! It does look difficult.

 

I've made other projects with the poly pellets and they are a pain to sew with - because no matter how certain I am that I moved them all away from the seam I need to sew, one always manages to sneak in and break my needle when I hit it. 

 

I have seriously considered making all the little bags of pellets  just to make the blanket construction part a little easier -- but honestly, I think I would probably do something like using fusible webbing to seal up the open side instead of actually sewing them closed. 

[Ravin]

I am in progress on one for DD. I am making it 12 lbs, she weighs 110. Size is 104" by...60 I think? Or 80. I don't recall. Fairly large.

[TrixieB]

I made a weighted blanket for one of my kids who at the time weighed around 100 lbs.  I used quilting fabric for the blanket, and I made it the same size as a crib blanket because I was given a double layer minky blanket that my kid liked.  I separated the layers and installed a zipper - presto, a washable cover.  My kid wanted the blanket mainly to cover the upper body, so the size ended up working out fine.

 

I used maybe 9 lbs of poly pellets, and poly stuffing - like batting but it comes in a bag and you could use it to fill stuffed animals for example.

 

Okay, the logistics.  I sewed two pieces of quilting fabric right sides together, left one end open, and turned right side out.  I sewed a seam all the way around, about 1/2 inch from the edge, still leaving one end open.  Then I drew a grid of... I think 3" or 4" squares. 

 

I figured out how much weight of pellets would go into each square by dividing 9 lbs by the amount of squares.  I set out some bowls, and one of my kids weighed the appropriate amount of pellets for each box in the horizontal row into the line of bowls.

 

I sewed the vertical lines, then sewed the horizontal lines for one row's seam at a time, but left about an inch unsewn just before each vertical seam.  Then I used a funnel and a length of plastic tubing to fill each square on the bottom row.  I put in some stuffing to keep the pellets away from the seam, and then I sewed the remaining inch of each horizontal square.  Then I did the same thing on the next row. 

 

It was pretty easy and didn't take that long, maybe 2 hours.  One of my friends just sewed vertical seams, like tubes, and filled them, but I though squares would distribute the weight better.

 

 

[griffystuff]

This DIY weighted blanket tutorial uses batting, and it's totally machine-washable. I'm going to try to make it with fleece and no batting, but I've read that the fleece can catch the poly pellets, making it hard to sew...