You've seen these around - they're kind of a hot topic right now. They look like comfy toss blankets except they have sleeves! They're called a lot of things - Slankets, Snuggies, Snuglets - but they're pretty much a simple fleece blanket with sleeves added.
Here's why they work: It's nice to cozy up under a warm blanket. Tuck it up under your feet, curl it up under your neck; everything's warm and tosty - until you need to use your arms! Need to grab the TV remote? Uncover your arm ... which pulls the blanket away from your neck. Want a sip of tea? Uncover an arm ... which again pulls the blanket off your neck and uncovers your chest. Need to rearrange the blanket near your feet? Uncover an arm, which ... well, you get the idea!
Sleeved blankets solve this problem by simply adding a set of sleeves to the blanket. Move your arms all you want - you won't rearrange the nice plump of blanket warming your neck and shoulders!
These blankets are very easy to make - even for sewists with very limited skills. Since they're fleece, cut ends won't unravel - this means you don't have to finish seams! The trickiest part is attaching the sleeves - but since the whole idea is to be kind of lumpy and cozy, they don't need tailoring to fit right. Just ease them in. Once you start cutting your fleece, you should have a finished blanket in about 20 minutes.
To make a sleeved blanket, start with 3 yards of 60 inch wide fleece. (You can also see a photo step-by-step tutorial in the link below) Cut off a strip 2 feet by 60 inches from one end ... then cut this in half to yield two 2 feet by 30 inch pieces. These will be your sleeves.
To create the first sleeve, fold the 2 foot strip in half to make a 1 foot by 30 inch "tube". Sew a seam along the 30 inch length to close the tube. That completed your first sleeve! Do the same for the second sleeve.
Next, you need to cut some sleeve holes on the remaining 7 foot by 60 inch piece of fleece. Measure down 14 inches from one 60 inch end - then measure 11 inches to each side of this point. Cut a 9 inch high by six inch wide oval at these points (the inside edges of the two ovals will be 22 inches apart).
Attach the sleeves to these ovals and sew them in. There's be a little extra fabric on the oval side, so you'll have to "ease" this in - that just means you'll push a little extra fabric together to fold it. This will let you join a longer piece to a shorter piece. Try to make the ease happen on the topside (the shoulder side) of the sleeves.
And that's it - you've just finished your sleeved blanket! Be sure and check out the photo-tutorial above to make sure things like right-side/wrong-side and such all work out. Once you've completed this project, the only downside is that you'll have to make several more because your family members will all want one!
