Beach Blanket

With the weather warming up and dreams of picnics at the park and trips to the beach I was inspired to make the perfect beach blanket for us. 

Perfect being water proof, not perfectly constructed! 

Given my impatience and lack of sewing skills it isn't quite perfect but apart from not actually being a real shape, each corner looking different from the other, a tiny bit of puckering and the back lining showing up on the front side in a couple places it is perfect enough for its intended uses!

What I hate most about blankets is that if you (unknowingly) set them out on damp grass or sand  it soaks right through the blanket and what should have been a cozy, dry place to sit is now damp and uncomfortable. 

I think I have figured out a way around that.

I bought 4 large towels at the thrift store, washed them and then cut them up and patched them together.

I added a couple decorations to some of the squares, including our last name initial:

For the backing I bought the largest vinyl table cloth that the store had - I'm not sure what the inches were but it was to seat 8-10 people so it was quite large. I ended up losing about 2 feet of length from the tablecloth as I didn't have enough towels. I made sure to pick out a table cloth that coordinated with the towels I had bought.

The final step was to put the front side of the table cloth against the front side of the towels and sew around the edges, leaving a gap so I could turn it right side out and then sew the gap closed. 

It took me almost 2 weeks to finish sewing around the edges because I kept putting it off as it is somewhat of a nuisance to have that much fabric following you as you sew. But I finished it today and am thrilled with my imperfect beach blanket.

From what I have read online the vinyl tablecloths can be washed in cold water and dried on the cool setting. I plan on washing in cold water and line drying when it needs to be cleaned. 

Sharing on My Romantic Home and  The Shabby Nest