Maybe I should have a whole category dedicated to Swiss flannel projects. This is yet another of the many items I have made with this luscious fabric and I don’t ever seem to tire of it.
Earlier, a similar white blanket was made, using regular Swiss flannel and featured in the post Antique Carriage Blanket. This one was made in anticipation of the birth of my second grandson, Alastair. I enjoyed using the bold dark blue in the flowers.Â
The blanket is made of “whisperweight” Swiss flannel and it is so light that “whisper” is a very descriptive name. The English lace edging is a 1″ wide double row of scallops, delicate in design but quite sturdy. This edging can withstand the frequent, heavy laundering required of baby bed linens. It is attached to the blanket with a wing needle pinstitch.
The antique wicker carriage machine embroidery design is from Fil Tire’ and Fancywork Elements by Suzanne Sawko and me. On my Brother Duetta 4500D, a block of fil tire’ is made of cotton batiste in the 4×4 frame with a wing needle and blue 80 wt. Madeira Cotona thread. This block is used as applique’ fabric for the carriage design.
The floral designs on the sides are from the same collection, with silk ribbon wound around web rose foundations. Creating a frame around the blanket is a 9 mm featherstitch, a P-design digitized by Suzanne Sawko and stitched on my Pfaff 7570 with 30 wt. Mettler cotton thread. A short piece of white lace tape is stitched over the end of the buggy, indicative of a tiny carriage cover.
I have made several blankets like these as baby gifts. By careful selection of the carriage and flower colors, it can be made suitable for a baby boy, baby girl, or gender neutral if the gender is not known.  They have always been well received and are often put to use as a nursing cover up.
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