How to Make a Weighted Blanket

By the time the weekend rolls around, we’re practically dreaming of a good night's rest. A weighted blanket, one of the year's most popular wellness trends, can help reduce anxiety and insomnia and help you achieve a sound night of sleep.

However, it can be hard to find affordable weighted blankets. If you enjoy sewing, this DIY weighted blanket is the perfect sleep solution at an affordable price point. Plus, you can customize it with your favorite fabric material and design. As a bonus, the poly-fill pellets are machine washable, so you can throw your weighted blanket in the washing machine when spills and stains happen. Learn how to make a weighted blanket, below.

How to Make a Weighted Blanket

What You Need:

• Muslin fabric
• Fabric shears or scissors
• Yardstick
• Pencil or pen
• Quilter’s pins
• Sewing machine
• Thread
• Poly-fill pellets
• Kitchen scale
• Funnel
• Poly batting (optional)
• Batting
• Outer fabric (we used polyester fleece)
• Clips
• Walking foot (optional)

Step 1: Cut Muslin Fabric

Cut muslin fabric to size. We made our blanket about 38 by 52 inches. You can cut two sheets of fabric with the same measurements or fold one long sheet of muslin to your desired length, so you have one less side to sew. The muslin will eventually go inside the blanket and hold the poly-fill pellets.

Step 2: Mark Border

Lay the two muslin pieces on top of each other or fold your piece in half. Mark a 1-inch border around the entire top sheet. There’s no need to worry about marks because this will be inside the blanket. Use pins to secure the fabric together at the edges.

Step 3: Sew Three Edges

Sew three edges shut along the 1-inch margins you marked prior. If you folded your muslin, you'll only need to sew two sides. Leave one side open to fill with pellets.

Step 4: Make Grid

With the fabric flat on your work surface, draw rows every 6 inches or so, stretching from the open end to the opposite closed end. Sew all rows using a sewing machine. Make sure to sew only up to the 1-inch border marks on each side.

Once the rows are sewn, draw perpendicular rows every 6 inches. Do not sew yet. This will form a grid.

Step 5: Add Poly-Fill Pellets

Next you'll need to weigh the poly-fill pellets in order to customize your weighted blanket. Determine this by first calculating 10-15 percent of your body weight. Then divide that number by how many squares you have drawn on your grid. That number is how much weight each square should hold.

After you've determined the correct amount for each square, add the poly-fill pellets column-by-column with a funnel. Once each column has one square’s-worth of poly-fill pellets, sew the first row shut along your grid lines. Make the stitch length tight to prevent pellets from falling out. The first row will be at the bottom of the blanket.

Continue filling the columns with poly-fill pellets and sewing the rows shut as you go until you reach the top. Stitch final edge closed.

If desired, you could add poly batting in the grids with the pellets to make the pellets less noisy.

Step 6: Add Fabric Layers

Cut and layer fabrics in the following order: batting, outer fabric face down, and finished muslin section. The fabrics you want on the exterior of your blanket should be slightly larger than the rest to allow for some give. Use clips to hold the layers in place and pin the perimeters, using about two pins per grid square.

Step 7: Sew Additional Layers

Stitch the three layers together. You may want to use a walking foot for this step if your fabric is thick or stretchy. Leave a space open on one side in order to turn the blanket right-side out. Trim excess fabric from the corners and edges.

Step 8: Flip and Stitch Close

Put your hand through the open hole and turn the layers right-side out through the opening you left unstitched. Clip and pin the opening. Stitch the opening closed. If desired, you can topstitch all the way around the perimeter of the blanket, in addition to the opening, to make the look consistent.