Wednesday, July 3, 2013

A Fleece Blanket for Zach and Sandy

 
One of the reasons we picked Sandy to join our family was that she is a non-shedding and considered to be a hypo-allergenic dog. We have lots of allergies in our family and our last dog (a Rottweiler) shed a TON.  Sandy appears to not shed and I am assuming she is hypo-allergenic as promised, but what we did not anticipate is that her hair hold allergens! She seems to be a little "dust mop" and the stuff in grass that makes one sneeze seems to cling to her.  I am hoping this will change as she gets taller and less of HER is so close to the ground. 

 
My son, Zach, loves to have Sandy lay on him or on the recliner with him, especially when she is mellow and napping.  Zach brings his fleece blanket from his bedroom to the living room every morning (ummm, remind you of any particular character from the comic strip "Peanuts"?)   I noticed Zach rubbing his eyes and sneezing a bit from the allergens, so I decided to make a fleece blanket for Zach and Sandy to keep in the living room for their snuggle time. That way, Zach can keep his other fleece blanket in his bedroom and keep some of the allergens at bay.

At WalMart, I found this cute black and white puppy paw print fleece and bought 2 1/2 yards for my tall boy.  I also found wide Quilt Binding in a dark, rich red. I think the two go together nicely.  I found three packages of the Quilt Binding and it turned out to not be enough to go all the way around the perimeter of the blanket (did I ever mention my math skills stink!?)  No worries though.  For the top and bottom of the blanket (the narrow ends), I folded the raw edge of the fabric down and stitched it on the sewing machine with red thread using a straight stitch.  I just folded the fabric over one time since fleece does not unravel.  For the long sides of the blanket, I pinned down the Quilt Binding and then stitched it down on the sewing machine using a zig-zag stitch.

Zach and Sandy are loving this blanket.  This project is "Zach Approved" and "Sandy Approved".

3 comments:

affectioknit said...

That is so cute...our Jack always chews fleece for some reason...he doesn't chew other types of material...just fleece...weird...

~Have a lovely day!

Wool Free and Lovin' Knit said...

Cute blanket -- that's the problem with "hypo-allergenic dogs" -- they still have other "stuff" that you can be allergic too. My sister got bichons because they re hypoallergenic but a lot of people find themselves wheezing after being with the dogs and it's because they roll around outside and, as you say, everything else sticks to them.

Unknown said...

Cute blanket! Anyway, I think it’s still easier to control a hypoallergenic dog with hair that hold allergens. You just have to be aware of where the dog went and what it did. You could also try using some allergen neutralizing spray on the dog to remove the allergens and prevent reactions.

Jessica Finley