Simple no sew tied fleece blankets (and scrappy dog toy)

On my most recent trip to JoAnn Fabric to pick up supplies to make unicorns with my niece I made a visit to the remnant bin and scored some rolls of fleece for cheap.  I have been wanting to make some small blankets for my dogs to keep in their crates.  This makes it easy to swap them out and keep their bedding clean, but not break the bank.  Dog beds are expensive and Huxley likes to rip them up.  So I am always worried that he is going to end up eating the fluff and making himself sick.  So with a few rolls of fleece I set out to make a super simple no sew blankets.

This project is so so easy!  Just lay your fabrics on top of each other and make snips all along the side of your fabric.  At the corners you will need to cut out a square piece with each side equaling your desired tassel length. If I were making this for a bed I think I would make the tassel longer and do an over hand knot.  But since I don't want to encourage the pups to chew on the blanket I decided to keep them short and do a simple double knot. ( With years of teach both pre-school and kids tap classes I am very confident in the strength of my double knots...I have tied so many shoelaces!!) 
I  worked my way around the blanket tying knots and making snips.  I enjoyed how the under color became the top color on the tassel so you really can appreciate the color combo.

At times the fabric did get a little bunched but I just gave it a little tug and let the fabric rip a little to ease the tension.  One of the glories of working with fleece is it doesn't fray and it is rather forgiving.
I bought two different blue fleece and two different green, and found it quite ironic that the blue anti pill fleece is the only one that made a mess and shed a bit when I cut it.


Huxley was happy with the new blanket and has enjoyed both laying on it and snuggling under it.  When I first started working with the fleece he thought I was making him a toy.  He has a long history of destroying toys in record time.  Over the years I have tried buying him fancy toys that claim to be extra heavy chew proof, or designed for dogs three times his size....but he kills them all.  I have a rule that I only spend up to $2 for toys (except on his birthday when I splurge a little) because I know they are only going to last a few minutes.  I always have to watch him so carefully with toys so I can pick up pieces and make sure he isn't eating anything.

One day when I was making a blanket for a friend I had some scrap strips of fleece and I braided them up and put a knot on each side and tossed it to Huxley. He loved it!  He tugged on it and chewed it...but unlike those rope ties in the store no little pieces came flying off.  No huge mess of string and no fear that he was going to eat the strings!
He can play tug of war and drag it around and the best part is when it gets gross and slimy you can throw it in the wash...or just make a new one.

I have played with making bigger knots, knots in the middle if the braid is to long,  and have toyed with the idea of making a monkeys fist or other larger knot with the fleece to see what I can come up with.  Because I make them out of scraps it is fun to just try new things each time.  Huxley isn't picky he just wants to play.

So it is no surprise that the second I unrolled my supplies to make him a blanket he thought he was going to be getting a new toy.  As luck would have it the blue fabric was just a little bigger than the green and I had a few strips of extra fabric that I was able to braid up and give to Huxley.

So there you have it my two for the price of one craft day dedicated to my sweet pups. Don't worry Harper got new blankets and toys too...even though she has claimed the afghan I am working on and isn't really interested in the ones I made especially for her...