I’m going to the Baylor-OU game on Thursday, and after regularly checking the weather forecast, I realized I needed a stadium blanket!

I got some Baylor fleece from Joann’s, and some super-soft solid black fabric. I basically went with a combination of the traditional no-sew fleece edge-tying method and a braided-edge method. I saw the braided edge on Pinterest first, but another method worked much better for a double braid.

Here’s the Baylor fleece so you can see the pattern — I didn’t love it the first time I saw it last weekend, but it’s grown on me:

Baylor fleece
Baylor fleece

Edit: The reason I didn’t like the pattern at first, I now realize, is because they’ve taken every single Baylor Bear logo and threw them all together. I think repeating one or maybe two logos would make more impact and be easier on the eyes. I’m not a “more is more!” person. For the #EveryoneInBlack game, however, we can snuggle with the offending pattern-side down.

A disclaimer about no-sew blankets: They require little-to-no sewing, but that doesn’t necessarily make them easy to make, in my opinion. This particular two-sided no-sew blanket required a lot of cutting, which took about two hours. I laid each layer right-side-out, backs together and trimmed the edges to eliminate the salvage and to fit.

Cutting the Baylor fleece and the black fuzzy fleece
Cutting the Baylor fleece and the black fuzzy fleece

I cut the fringe across each side, and then went back and cut the slits in the fringe that allow for the braided look.

More cutting
More cutting

Using the painter’s tape helps while cutting the fringe, but pulling it off to re-use it on the next side jacks up the alignment of the two layers of fleece. If you use the tape to help cut, leave it on until you’re done with all the braiding or tying.

And still more cutting
And still more cutting

At this point, you can see the fuzz balls that the black fleece has created. They ended up everywhere by the time I got to the braiding part:

Fleece fuzz everywhere
Fleece fuzz everywhere

I vacuumed immediately after this picture was taken, but little fleece fuzz balls are still all over my house!

Here’s a close up of the braiding. I used a knitting needle. I think a crochet needle would be ideal, but I couldn’t find mine. If you looked at the tutorial I linked to, you can see that anything can work to finish the edge, even a paperclip!

Braiding the edge of the blanket
Braiding the edge of the blanket

I had some sewing to do at this point. Cutting both layers of fringe and slits at once meant that several times I cut the slit to close to the edge on the black fabric. I had to stitch those back together. I also tacked the braid in several places to give the edge some support. Possibly unnecessary, but it’s for my peace of mind. Also, the last two fringes in the braid looked nothing like the tutorial I linked to, so I finished it with needle and thread to secure it and make it look consistent.

Braided edge of the blanket
Braided edge of the blanket

OK, last picture! Here’s the done deal!

Finished Baylor stadium blanket
Finished Baylor stadium blanket