A weighted blanket puts gentle pressure on a person, which can be very comforting for anyone, but studies show they can be greatly beneficial to people with sensory processing disorders, anxiety or autism. Most weighted blankets get their heft by containing plastic or glass pellets inside compartments sewn on a grid. I wanted to experiment with making a weighted blanket without those pellets, but by getting the weight from recycled denim blue jeans.
You can listen to my podcast episode about making a weighted blanket from February 2020 in this YouTube video:
Weighted Blanket Sewing Tutorials
If you live somewhere warm, another way to provide gentle pressure without a heavy warm blanket is with a stretchy sheet sewn in a tube around the mattress. Learn about making your own sensory stretchy sheet from the blog And Next Comes L.
Plastic Pellets from Beanie Baby Toys
Buying new plastic or glass pellets for your weighted blanket seems like not a great option in terms of recycling. If you really want to go with plastic pellets, one option might be to collect toys that contain plastic pellets like Beanie Babies, and then use the fillings from those toys in your blanket. You can then use the fabric from the toys for other craft projects. Check out Trashmagination’s most popular podcast episode ever (#16) for more tips on creative reuse of stuffed toys.
