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No
Angel Blanket is meant
to be perfect. Its purpose is to create
warmth for the body,
mind and soul.
To explain a little further, linen can be layered
together
to create a wonderfully warm and substantial blanket.
The only essential criterion is that the
items incorporated in each blanket are in a clean condition.
Angel Blankets are constructed from
unwanted or old linen
- including sheets, towels, bedspreads, tablecloths, doona covers,
electric
blankets, blankets, quilts and curtains (without rubber or synthetic
fused
backing which create mould and mildew within a blanket). |
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Many people
have items, similar to the above list, in
their
linen cupboards. Some of which may have
not been used for a long time, or are outdated, or are borderline
between
useful and worn out for normal use, or are being kept just in case they
may
come in handy one day. And we all know
that fitted sheets wear out before the top sheet, leaving us with an
odd sheet!
Towels that are too thin for personal use still
contain
warmth and are valuable. As do any
articles (eg sheets) that may be worn in one spot, but still have a
substantial
area that is in reasonably good condition.
Angel Blankets are not made to any specific
size, but the
aim is to waste as little material as possible, and to make them really
warm. As they may often be the only
blanket a person has the idea is to, where ever possible, to make them
large
enough to wrap easily around an adult body.
Many of my blankets end up the size of
single and queen bed
sheets.
As a general rule Angel Blankets are constructed
from three
or four layers of material. However this
depends on the materials used. You will
need to use your own judgement in this area. To
give you some idea, blankets I have made include:
- two cotton
sheets for the outside, with two flannelette sheets between
- one layer of chenille bedspread
between the two side pieces of a doona cover
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- an
old rug with tattered
edging with
a single layer of sheeting to lap around and cover the rug edging
- sleeping
bag with the cigarette burns side covered by a layer of sheeting
- old
electric blankets stripped of attachments and wiring
- a large section of quilt with a
single layer of sheeting covering the back and wrapped over the edges
- 6 layers of quite thin queen bed
sized sheets (However my sewing machine
had a great deal of trouble finding its way through the six layers,
plus the
wrapped bottom layer and the turned edge to neaten, 8 layers in all. However it made a very good large blanket.)
- supper cloth (120 cm x 100 cm), with
2 towels flat joined inside, and backed by sheeting |
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| - beautiful
quality heavy cotton queen bed spread, unused for over 20 years, folded
in
half, edges sewn, and the angel pattern placed on |
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As can be seen, I use a normal old singer sewing
machine to
sew all the blankets on. |
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| The Making Of The
Blanket |
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- Whenever possible I like
a
2"/5cm edging on the base piece of material to lap around the other
layers
- If
you are using a pair of sheets for the outside of the blanket it is
still
better to cut the edges off the top sheet to fit inside the bottom
sheet, as
this leaves a thinner and more manageable edge for the sewing machine.
- Remember the corners of
the blanket will
become difficult for the sewing machine to sew through if they become
too
thick.
- All linen stretches in a
different
manner so as a general rule I like to start with the widest solid piece
of
sheeting as the base to the blanket, and start from one corner and
allowing an
edge to wrap around up and over
- Now, starting from your
base piece of
material, lay out and smooth one layer at a time.
- I first position each
successive
layer 2"/5cm from the edges at the right hand corner nearest me, after
flattening it out over the base layer, I then smooth that layer from
its centre
outwards towards each corner. This
action minimises most of the problems arising from uneven stretching
that
appears in used material. (If you do not
understand my way of explaining this, simply use the process that works
for you
- there are no hard and fast rules.)
- Caution - only trim the
top layers to
fit inside the base layer after all layers have been added.
- When you have added all
the layers
you have allocated to make the blanket, a point is reached where I stop
and ask
myself "If I was homeless on the street on a very cold night, how
useful
would this blanket be to me?" and I give it a rating out of ten just to
double check. It is far better to make a
change at this point than to finish the blanket and then not be really
happy
with it.
- Now trim the edges of
the top layers,
lap the edge of the bottom layer around up and over the top layer,
turning the
raw edge under approx ½"/12mm to neaten it for the sewing
process.
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- Now securely pin the
turned edge
(ensure you have pinned through all layers) and sew.
I prefer two rounds of straight stitch to
make the blankets more durable.
- Any colour may be used
for sewing
Angel Blankets, but the angel pattern is always sewn in white thread,
using a
zigzag stitch. For myself, I do all the
blanket sewing with white thread, it just makes it quicker and easier.
- Of course, you could
simply bind the
edges of the blanket if you wish, instead of using the above method -
or simply
do it how you think best.
- Now, lay the blanket out
on a solid
table and mark the angel pattern with
tailors chalk. On most blankets blue
tailors chalk works
well, and I use white tailors chalk for the rest.
- When deciding on the
dimensions of
the angel pattern, remember that its first purpose is to secure the
layers
firmly together. You will probably get a
sense for this by looking at the Angel Blanket images on this web site.
- As I do not have a ruler
long enough,
I use a straight piece of 2½'' x ½'' x 5ft pine board
from my shed to do
this. You could equally use a broom of
mop handle if you have nothing else, but this would be far more
challenging
since they are round and would slip easily
- Pin
along the angel shape, making sure you pin through all the layers to
hold it
firmly for sewing; and remember to include the white sheeting circles
for the
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How To Deal With Different
Types Of Linen
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Stains that remain after the material is washed
are
not a problem as they can be covered by other layers of material.
A hole, tear, cigarette burn
or fraying
etc to any of the items can also generally be 'managed' or worked
around.
Old towels are great for creating warmth in
the
blankets. First remove the bands near
the end and any side seams or selvedge. The
remaining material can be joined together with a
flat seam by
overlapping two pieces by approx 1cm and using a zigzag stitch to sew. (Do not over-lock the seam as this would
create uncomfortable bumps in the blanket.) |
This
overlap and zigzag principle can also be used for sheets
and other linen that are very thin in the middle, with strong
viable
material towards the edges. Simply rip
the sheets down the middle, then (after removing the edge seams) using
a zigzag
flat seam join the outside edges together. This
puts the warmth in to the centre of the blanket
where it is most
needed. Note: Edges
joined material is usually only used
for the inside layers that cannot seen, and if using two or more joined
layers,
it is important not to place the joins of the different layers directly
on top
of one another as this would make the blanket quite uncomfortable to
use. The single layer by itself and joined
in the
above manner is normally undetectable.
For all the blankets I have made, I have only ever
found one
set of sheets, and no doona cover covers, with straight grain edges. In fact, one set of sheets had a 6"/15cm
difference between top and bottom when torn to straighten the grain.
The challenge to layer material with different
quality and
stretching is hard enough, without also trying to compensate for
misaligned
grains which create twisting and misalignment within the blanket.
I now pre-tear all sheets etc and measure
the material that
is left before I decide on what layers I will put together to construct
a
blanket. I currently have part of a
bed covered with different shapes and
sizes waiting for matching up.
Whilst my aim is to use as much of the linen I can, I no
longer unpick the top, bottom or side seams, but tear or cut them off
instead. This is for several reasons:
- Tearing the edge seams off
gives
straight solid edges to start from.
- Unpicking requires a large
amount of
extra time.
- The edge of the top seam is
often
worn and will need cutting off anyway, so very little is gained
- Material with a straight grain
is
stronger and more durabl
However, I do
unpick damaged satin binding from blankets to retain as much wool as
possible.
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Electric
blankets make
absolutely wonderfully warm Angel Blankets. The
old blankets used two layers of wool to
place wiring between, and whilst it takes a little time and patience to
carefully strip the electric attachments and wiring, the remaining
woollen rug
is really worth it. A pink and blue
electric blanket I had left stored in the linen cupboard for over 20
years can
be seen here. |
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This is a
close-up of the corner where the
electric connection and wiring was removed from.
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Although still in very good condition, it had been
replaced
by a spiffy new down doona which was considered safer for children. As can be seen, the only sign that it was an
electric blanket is the original curved stitching pattern to hold the
wiring
which still remains. There is virtually
no damage at all to the woollen blanket material.
After
removing the electrical connection carefully, I
then use a kitchen skewer and a pair of tweezers to tease holes in the
blanket
to pull out the wiring that remains, cutting the wiring in pieces as I
go. I know this explanation is extremely
brief,
but this is really something that needs to be demonstrated rather than
trying
to write a complicated explanation.
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Wool blankets: I was lucky
enough to have two wonderful pure wool
blankets
donated. They had been washed but they
were absolutely covered with white cat hair - which of course will not
wash
out. I tried several different methods
to try to get rid of it, including a horse hair brush, a synthetic
'magic'
brush/lint brush, and using wide sticky tape - but all of these methods
only
removed a small amount of hair. I then
tried my vacuum cleaner with the small short nozzle.
By moving the nozzle it is small rotating
circles on a firm flat surface I was able to remove over 90% of the
hair. Even though it took about one and
half hours
to do a blanket, I still felt it was well worth the effort.
- After removing the hair I simply
sewed the angel pattern on to the blanket. However,
I now feel that a single or double
blanket is a little large to
be easily manageable by homeless people, and I now fold them in half
and sew
the edges together before placing the angel pattern on.
This makes the blanket far more manageable
whilst still being a good size to wrap around an adult, and it creates
air
pockets between the two layers which in turn actually increase the
warmth of
the blanket.
Note: If you
need to remove cat or dog hair from your own blankets, sofas or any
other
material surface in your home, using the small nozzle on your vacuum
cleaner is
an extremely effective way to do it. Perhaps
just make it part of your regular carpet
cleaning chore! |
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Doona Covers: I am always happy
to receive donations of doona
covers as they are
usually in very good condition, and it gives me two solid pieces for
the
outside of a blanket. However, I no
longer struggle trying to fit other material in to the cover, I simply
do the
same as for sheets - remove all the seams and create straight grain
edges. This approach results in very
little loss of
material, saves an enormous amount of time, makes the layers very easy
to work
with, and in the end actually creates a more professional looking
finished
article. |
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An Angel
Blanket is always a
gift -
It may never be
bought, sold or bartered with |
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