Backing is a piece of fabric attached to the back of a knit/crochet blanket to make it warmer and cozier. It also provides a neat finish to any project with stranded colorwork, hiding yarn floats in between the layers. Since knit and crochet blankets stretch differently than fabric, the layers need to be sewn together not only around the edges, but evenly throughout the entire surface…much like you would make a quilt.

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MATERIALS:

1. Self-healing cutting mat
2. Quilting ruler
3. Rotary cutter with a 45 mm blade
4. Fabric scissors
5. Skip-cut (or skip-stitch) rotary cutter blade (45 mm) for wide space cuts
6. Wonder clips or any other clips (optional)
7. Minky fabric (or Fleece fabric) – slightly larger in size than your finished blanket
8. Lint roller (optional)
9. Curved basting pins  or safety pins
10. Tapestry needle
11. Sewing machine (optional)
12. Crochet hook 5 mm (H)
13. Worsted weight yarn (Medium/4)

Fiskars Rotary Cutting Set is a good and affordable starter kit for beginners (affiliate link).

PREPARING FABRICS:

1. Wet block your knit or crochet blanket before adding lining. This will help you keep the edges straight and will balance the shape of the blanket.
2. Napped fabrics need to be placed on the blanket with the nap running down for more natural feel and look.

CUTTING FABRIC:

With wrong sides together, lay out the backing fabric on top of your knit/crochet blanket. Align 2 edges of both pieces, then fold and cut the excess fabric off the opposite edges…so the backing is the same size as your blanket (no seam allowances required).

NOTE: A sticky lint roller is very handy for keeping your working area clean when you cut any fabrics with nap.

PERFORATION:

Change the blade in your rotary cutter to the Skip-cut (or skip-stitch) blade. Position the quilting ruler 3/4″ (19 mm) from the edge of the fabric and roll the skip-cut blade along the edges of the ruler to create perfectly-spaced perforations. Repeat around the entire edge of the backing fabric.

CROCHET EDGES:

Use worsted weight yarn and a 5 mm (H) hook to finish the edges of the backing fabric.

Stitch summary (US terms):

Beg – beginning; Ch – chain; Sc – single crochet; Sl st – slip stitch; St – stitch.

Make a slipknot, then insert the hook from front to back through the perforation a few inches away from the corner, yarn over & pull it through the perforation, yarn over & pull through both loops on the hook (first sc made). Work around the perforated edge, rolling the fabric edge over to the wrong side as you go –> *[Ch 1, sc in next perforation] repeat to the corner; (sc, ch 1, sc, ch 1, sc) in corner; repeat from* all the way around; sl st in top of beg st. Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing.

ATTACHING BACKING:

With wrong sides together, align the edges of the blanket and backing. The backing should be slightly smaller than your blanket after the edges are finished. Place clips evenly along the first edge to prepare the layers for sewing. You can use basting pins instead of clips, but try to avoid straight pins as they can easily get lost in-between crochet stitches. Using a tapestry needle and the long tail from finishing, backstitch along the edge, removing clips as you go; repeat around the remaining edges.

BASTING:

Basting is a technique used for holding the layers of the quilt temporarily while it’s being quilted. To begin, flip the quilt to the right side and flatten out the layers. Pin both layers of the quilt by placing basting pins every 3″-5″, working your way around the quilt.

QUILTING:

For machine tacking, be sure to clear your working space as you will need to lay out and push the quilt around your sewing machine. Thread your machine and set the stitch length to 2. Insert the quilt through the throat of the machine to start quilting. Using basting pins as guides for stitching, sew 3-5 stitches forward and then reverse, removing basting pins as you go…repeat 2-3 times in each spot. You can also set your sewing machine for zig-zag with zero stitch length, instead of sewing forward/reverse. Use an automatic thread cutter before moving to the next stitch point, or move without cutting thread and then cut the floats between tacking spots at the end of work.

Here is a short video of the quilting process.

….and here is my finished crochet quilt! The layers stay together without separating as they are joined throughout the entire surface.

Don’t worry if sewing machine is not an option for you. Instead of machine tacking, you can simply tie your quilt using matching yarn scraps or embroidery floss. Just thread the needle and insert it from back to front through the quilt layers leaving a 2” (5 cm) tail at the beginning, then back up through a stitch away from the initial spot. Repeat one more time to reinforce. Cut yarn, leaving a 2” (5 cm) tail at the end. Tie the ends together with a double knot on the back of the quilt. Trim the tails to approximately 1” (2.5 cm).