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Delight your little cavekid with a Dino~fleece no-sew blanket -
Crochet border 

Reverse shell border resembles the plates on a stegosaurus!

Made this no-sew blanket with crochet border for my grandson. He's four now so it's bigger than baby size.

Forget the sewing machine! Choose your fleece and let's get started!

What you'll need (what I used)

• 1 1/2 yds. Dino fleece (polar-type so it doesn't fray)
• 1 1/2 yds. complementary polar-type fleece (for double thickness ~ nights can get pretty cold in winter, even in AZ!)
• Binder clips - Use straight pins, if you wish, or just finagle it :-)
  
• Caron Simply Soft yarn ~ white (< 1 skein)
• Caron Simply Soft yarn ~ navy (< 1 skein)
• Crochet hook ~ size 4.5 mm (or size that you're comfortable with)
  
• Rotary cutter with a solid blade 
• A skip blade for the rotary cutter
  
• Cutting mat
  

Here's information about the types of fleece, to help you understand the differences.

I got this nifty dinosaur fabric and the one with triangles at Joann's. But you'll find lots of polar fleece styles by-the-yard at Amazon!

Prepare the fleece

Step 1

Place the fleece one on top of the other. 

Using the rotary cutter with the solid blade (I use a Fiskars) and a self-healing cutting mat, trim the edges so that both pieces are exactly the same size.

Step 2

Replace the blade in your rotary cutter with the crochet edge skip blade. For this step, use just one fleece piece at a time.

Over the cutting mat, roll the skip blade 1/2 inch away from the edge of the fleece, all the way around the fabric. This makes the holes for you to crochet into.

Do the same with the other piece of fleece.

**You only want to make one pass with the skip blade, so be sure to check that your skip blade is cutting through the fabric, actually making the holes. (If you try to go over the same place twice, you may cut off a strip of fabric if your holes don't line up exactly! Aargh!)**

Crochet the border ~ 2 rows only

Step 3

Layer both pieces of fleece with the right sides showing. (Be sure the designs are going in the same direction.) I used binder clips to hold them together.

Fold the edge of each piece 1/4 inch to the inside and pinch as you crochet. This makes for a stronger edge on your no-sew fleece blanket, and the crochet border will never rip out of the holes you've made. (You don't have to do this folding because the fleece will not unravel. It just seems more finished and sturdy to me.)

Insert the crochet hook through both layers  just past a corner (match the holes), and attach the white yarn.   Ch 1, *single crochet, chain 1 (repeat from * all around), using the holes for each sc. In each corner, (sc1, ch1, sc1). Slip stitch with the beginning and fasten off the color.

Since you don't know how many little holes you have, you may have to fudge a little around the corners. Just make it look good. If you have to skip a set of holes, don't worry because it will not fray and will not be noticed! ;-)

Step 4

The Reverse Shell Border makes the edge look almost like the plates on the back of a Stegosaurus. HeartHookHome has a very clear tutorial that I followed. She makes it extremely easy!

Use the navy blue yarn for the Reverse Shell Border. 

Begin at the top edge of the blanket. I only single crocheted across the top part - no shells. Didn't want them to tickle my grandson's chin. The shells are only on the sides and the bottom of the blanket.

If you end up with more or fewer stitches than needed to finish the last shells, just strategically skip a stitch so that the shells are well-spaced. Then join with a slip stitch and fasten off. Weave in the ends.

Time for a no-sew blanket tent!

And there you have a cuddly soft no-sew Dino fleece blanket with crochet border to keep your little cavekids toasty in their own little den!

Greetings!

I'm Susan, a recently retired elementary school teacher, reading specialist and happy grandma! Since retirement, I'm beginning to focus my energies on a list of desired extracurricular activities for which there has been no time, until now.

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