Tutorial ~ Waterproof Park Blanket

by Destri on June 10, 2010

It’s officially park weather…hooray!   I have mentioned that I like to get to the park in the morning before the crowd shows up and before the slides get too hot for little tushes.  But there is one drawback.  The grass is always on the damp side, so I whipped up a waterproof park blanket to keep our britches from getting soggy.  This  would work great for a beach blanket too, the sand wouldn’t stick to the bottom.

I was originally going to buy oilcloth or tablecloth material at the fabric store, but then I ran across a weather-proof table cloth for $4 at big-mart.  It already had a finished edge and it was the perfect size for my blanket, plus it was a cute print, and cheap!

The other thing I knew I wanted was a key clasp.  When we go to baseball games or to the park in the car, I only take my keys with a few bucks in my pocket.  It never fails, I always lose my keys in the grass.  Every. Single. Time.  I would put them in my pocket, but that is not too comfy, so this solved my problem!

The last thing I added was an elastic strap so when I roll it up I can secure it.  You could even add handles to carry it.  Shall we get started?

Making a Waterproof Park or Beach Blanket

Supplies:

  • all your sewing stuff
  • ¾ inch to 1 inch elastic
  • metal clasp
  • blanket (I used one I already had)
  • waterproof material cut or sewn to the size of your blanket

I had to cut my blanket down to fit my tablecloth, but you may need to sew together fabric to fit your blanket, so do what ever it is you need to do.  Lay the waterproof material with the wrong side up on flat surface with good amount of room for you to work.  Ten lay your blanket on top with the right side up and make sure that your blanket is 1½ inches smaller all the way around.

Take your clasp and thread a piece of fabric through as shown to make a loop.

Pin the material over the edge of the blanket and the key clasp where you would like it under that fold.  For the corners just fold the sides over first then the corner in pin.

On a short end of your blanket, find the center and pin your elastic under the fold as shown.

Now just sew around the perimeter using a zigzag or straight stitch. When you get to the corners make sure your needle is down, lift your pressure foot and rotate fabric.  You’re done!

If you would like you can sew two lines down the blanket, short end to short end.  Measure so that this makes the blanket easy to fold into thirds.

To fold up just fold into thirds and wrap the elastic around the roll.  My elastic was long enough that I could wrap it twice.  I was surprised at how compact it was when rolled up, nice and compact.

There you have it!  No wet bums at the baseball field or park, no more losing your keys in the grass, and all for around $5.00!

I shared this post on Blue Cricket Design, fun stuff over there!

{ 2 trackbacks }

Tutorial: Waterproof Park Blanket · Sewing @ CraftGossip
June 10, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Waterproof Park Blanket
June 28, 2010 at 5:24 pm

{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }

Judi June 10, 2010 at 10:28 am

Is that really just a vinyl tablecloth? I was going to go by me a waterproof thing like thisfor $25, but heck, even I can make on of these!!

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maria June 10, 2010 at 11:12 am

Genius! That is all I can say about that. A key clasp…….Genius!

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Aimee @ Simple Bites June 10, 2010 at 12:59 pm

Hello! Summer picnic perfection!

Loving this. Merci!

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Rebecca @ Pantry Cookin Mama June 10, 2010 at 1:05 pm

What a great idea and very good tutorial. Myself and one of my kids are allergic to grass and wet blankets stink. Thanks for sharing!

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KYouell June 10, 2010 at 1:07 pm

The key clasp is what makes this better than the vinyl-ey “blanket” I got as a gift. Plus yours rolls where as that one folds flat, and rolled up things work better in the stroller basket IMHO. Bookmarking this to make after I get my mending done.

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Tiffany June 10, 2010 at 1:24 pm

is this the picnic blanket you’ve been saving? it’s lovely!

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Kate June 10, 2010 at 5:41 pm

I hope you realise that I am keeping track of all the goodies I want us (err I mean you!) to make while I take care of our fab 4…………….only joking… kinda!

marvellous, ingeneous, clever, clever lady…………………and with perfect painted nails I see!

17 days and counting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Anne June 10, 2010 at 6:16 pm

Brilliant!! I HATE getting up from sitting in the grass only to realize that the ground is slightly damp and I now have a wet spot on the back of my pants that looks like a I had a little accident….

I linked to your tutorial on Craft Gossip Sewing:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-waterproof-park-blanket/2010/06/10/

–Anne

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Mikaela June 10, 2010 at 7:50 pm

This is such a great idea! I’ve seen a similar one with a tarp as the backing but I like the idea of the tablecloth as it would be thinner and more flexible. Thanks for sharing =)

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heather June 10, 2010 at 7:59 pm

great idea!!! I linked your tut on my blog.

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Suzanne June 10, 2010 at 9:24 pm

Love this idea, your such a smarty pants, how you do it I’ll never know!

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Lindsay Wilkes June 11, 2010 at 1:51 pm

What a great idea! I did something similar, but mine was WAY more involved (http://thecottagehome.blogspot.com/2010/04/waterproof-picnic-blanket-tutorial.html)…….I honestly would have never thought just to hem up the tablecloth – you go girl!!

Lindsay

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Destri June 11, 2010 at 2:48 pm

Lindsay, so funny you should stop by! When craft gossip linked to this post they had similar post links under that post and I found your tutorial. Here I thought I was a genius! Yours was adorable! See if I would have found yours before I would have saved myself the trouble. oh well!

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Heidi June 17, 2010 at 12:32 pm

I love this idea. And I just bought an adorable tablecloth at Target on clearance. I’m going to give this a try even with my very limited sewing skills. Thanks!

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Rachel June 21, 2010 at 6:04 pm

Ooh this is great! I love the tablecloth idea. Thanks so much, I’ll be linking.

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AmberLee June 25, 2010 at 6:48 am

I have been wanting a good park blanket for years! I love the idea of having something pretty that will also keep us nice and dry. Totally cute. Love the key hook, too.

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