Weighted blankets

James' therapist asked me to try my hand at making weighted blankets,
since the person she had been ordering them from usually has a 5+ week
delivery time.

Weighted blankets are prescribed by a child's occupational therapist
to help with sleep issues and to give deep sensory input. You should
check with your child's therapist before you have them sleep under
one. James has one, although he never really had difficulty
sleeping. He does love it, and he definitely sleeps through the night
now. All of my clients rave about them, too.

The blankets are supposed to be made to weigh in at 3-5% of a child's
body weight. We usually make them at 10%, since kids grow so fast,
and a blanket that is too light will not work quite as well.

A weighted blanket is like a quilt, but instead of batting, you fill
it with weights. Some people use polymer beads, like in beanie
babies. I prefer a fine aquarium gravel that is made from river
stones. Five pounds (a common weight) is a LOT of polymer beads. I
wash the gravel by rinsing it three times, and sift it to get the tiny
particles out, and it works very nicely.

My normal size blanket is just a one yard cut of fabric, since most of
my kids are preschool age. I use a layer of quilting cotton for the
top, flannel for the back, and two lining layers of interior
decorating cotton. I have also used up some of my uglier fabrics for
linings, and even pieced some of my larger scraps. As long as the
fabric has a pretty tight weave, I feel good about it.

The first step is to draw a 4" grid over the top layer. Usually this
works out to 8 rows of 10. (32"x 40") Then I baste the four layers
together with safety pins, with the outer layers right-side out. I
usually put a pin in every other square. Next I sew all of the
vertical rows, and the bottom of the quilt shut. If you can envision
a down comforter, this is the effect I am going for. You want to keep
the weights distributed evenly across the surface of the blanket. I
like to attach the binding to the two sides and the bottom first,
since a blanket full of weights is heavy! I use the machine to attach
it to the front, then turn it to the back and pin it as I stitch it
down with the machine.

Then I weigh the un-filled blanket, to see how much gravel I need. I
use my kitchen scale, which now lives in my sewing room. Then I take
the goal weight of my blanket, subtract the weight of the fabric, and
I have the amount of gravel I need to add. I divide that number by 80
(the number of squares in my grid) and that is how much gravel I need
to add to each square.

Now comes the fun part. I have a specialized funnel (a cardboard tube
from wrapping paper with a plastic cup taped to the top) that I feed
down each row. The kitchen scale is used to weight out individual
portions of filling. I use this to direct the gravel exactly where I
want it to go. I fill up one horizontal row, then stitch it closed.
I do this all of the way up the blanket, and finally I finish by
attaching the binding to the top side.

It is a tedious job, and there isn't much artistic investment, but I
do get paid $50 for each blanket. I don't charge much for these,
because I don't want parents to not buy a therapeutic product for
their children if they need it. I have made one blanket so far in a
double size, and it was a challenge. I have made a few pieced tops,
but only because I felt the need to be artistic. I wash them in the
machine in the gentle cycle, and hang them up to dry.

I have tried to sell them on Ebay, but the prices there are usually
lower than what I am willing to part with. Good luck with it if you
try to make one, and let me know if you have any questions.

Jen in Florida

If you are looking to market them... contact your local early intervention
programs. They have the OT's and PT's that work with children under age 5
with special needs. They (the therapists/programs) can also hook you up
with the school age kids.

I never thought about it -- buy my youngest (now 20) is a special needs
kiddo... He sleeps under 2 quilts.... all year long (even though in the
summer his room is sometimes 80 degrees or more! Maybe it's the weight of
the quilts that he prefers. My first quilt (I made it when I was 17... a
LONG LONG time ago) was extremely heavy. I didn't know about batting... so
I put 2 sheet blankets between the layers (which were heavy gabbardines and
canvas like fabrics) and then tied it. That quilt was a favorite with my
older two as well.

--
Kate in MI
http://community.webshots.com/user/K_Groves


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Jen in FL" wrote in message
ups.com...
James' therapist asked me to try my hand at making weighted blankets,
since the person she had been ordering them from usually has a 5+ week
delivery time.

Weighted blankets are prescribed by a child's occupational therapist
to help with sleep issues and to give deep sensory input. You should
check with your child's therapist before you have them sleep under
one. James has one, although he never really had difficulty
sleeping. He does love it, and he definitely sleeps through the night
now. All of my clients rave about them, too.

The blankets are supposed to be made to weigh in at 3-5% of a child's
body weight. We usually make them at 10%, since kids grow so fast,
and a blanket that is too light will not work quite as well.

A weighted blanket is like a quilt, but instead of batting, you fill
it with weights. Some people use polymer beads, like in beanie
babies. I prefer a fine aquarium gravel that is made from river
stones. Five pounds (a common weight) is a LOT of polymer beads. I
wash the gravel by rinsing it three times, and sift it to get the tiny
particles out, and it works very nicely.

My normal size blanket is just a one yard cut of fabric, since most of
my kids are preschool age. I use a layer of quilting cotton for the
top, flannel for the back, and two lining layers of interior
decorating cotton. I have also used up some of my uglier fabrics for
linings, and even pieced some of my larger scraps. As long as the
fabric has a pretty tight weave, I feel good about it.

The first step is to draw a 4" grid over the top layer. Usually this
works out to 8 rows of 10. (32"x 40") Then I baste the four layers
together with safety pins, with the outer layers right-side out. I
usually put a pin in every other square. Next I sew all of the
vertical rows, and the bottom of the quilt shut. If you can envision
a down comforter, this is the effect I am going for. You want to keep
the weights distributed evenly across the surface of the blanket. I
like to attach the binding to the two sides and the bottom first,
since a blanket full of weights is heavy! I use the machine to attach
it to the front, then turn it to the back and pin it as I stitch it
down with the machine.

Then I weigh the un-filled blanket, to see how much gravel I need. I
use my kitchen scale, which now lives in my sewing room. Then I take
the goal weight of my blanket, subtract the weight of the fabric, and
I have the amount of gravel I need to add. I divide that number by 80
(the number of squares in my grid) and that is how much gravel I need
to add to each square.

Now comes the fun part. I have a specialized funnel (a cardboard tube
from wrapping paper with a plastic cup taped to the top) that I feed
down each row. The kitchen scale is used to weight out individual
portions of filling. I use this to direct the gravel exactly where I
want it to go. I fill up one horizontal row, then stitch it closed.
I do this all of the way up the blanket, and finally I finish by
attaching the binding to the top side.

It is a tedious job, and there isn't much artistic investment, but I
do get paid $50 for each blanket. I don't charge much for these,
because I don't want parents to not buy a therapeutic product for
their children if they need it. I have made one blanket so far in a
double size, and it was a challenge. I have made a few pieced tops,
but only because I felt the need to be artistic. I wash them in the
machine in the gentle cycle, and hang them up to dry.

I have tried to sell them on Ebay, but the prices there are usually
lower than what I am willing to part with. Good luck with it if you
try to make one, and let me know if you have any questions.

Jen in Florida

Jen,
This sounds wonderful!! My daughter has two autistic children and these
would be great for them. Autistic children often benefit from the weight of
a blanket such as those you're making. I'll send your message on to my
daughter to see what she thinks. She has worked so hard with both children,
one is now able to attend school and the other is being home schooled and
beginning to read. I don't know how she does it!
Michelle
"Jen in FL" wrote in message
ups.com...
James' therapist asked me to try my hand at making weighted blankets,
since the person she had been ordering them from usually has a 5+ week
delivery time.

Weighted blankets are prescribed by a child's occupational therapist
to help with sleep issues and to give deep sensory input. You should
check with your child's therapist before you have them sleep under
one. James has one, although he never really had difficulty
sleeping. He does love it, and he definitely sleeps through the night
now. All of my clients rave about them, too.

The blankets are supposed to be made to weigh in at 3-5% of a child's
body weight. We usually make them at 10%, since kids grow so fast,
and a blanket that is too light will not work quite as well.

A weighted blanket is like a quilt, but instead of batting, you fill
it with weights. Some people use polymer beads, like in beanie
babies. I prefer a fine aquarium gravel that is made from river
stones. Five pounds (a common weight) is a LOT of polymer beads. I
wash the gravel by rinsing it three times, and sift it to get the tiny
particles out, and it works very nicely.

My normal size blanket is just a one yard cut of fabric, since most of
my kids are preschool age. I use a layer of quilting cotton for the
top, flannel for the back, and two lining layers of interior
decorating cotton. I have also used up some of my uglier fabrics for
linings, and even pieced some of my larger scraps. As long as the
fabric has a pretty tight weave, I feel good about it.

The first step is to draw a 4" grid over the top layer. Usually this
works out to 8 rows of 10. (32"x 40") Then I baste the four layers
together with safety pins, with the outer layers right-side out. I
usually put a pin in every other square. Next I sew all of the
vertical rows, and the bottom of the quilt shut. If you can envision
a down comforter, this is the effect I am going for. You want to keep
the weights distributed evenly across the surface of the blanket. I
like to attach the binding to the two sides and the bottom first,
since a blanket full of weights is heavy! I use the machine to attach
it to the front, then turn it to the back and pin it as I stitch it
down with the machine.

Then I weigh the un-filled blanket, to see how much gravel I need. I
use my kitchen scale, which now lives in my sewing room. Then I take
the goal weight of my blanket, subtract the weight of the fabric, and
I have the amount of gravel I need to add. I divide that number by 80
(the number of squares in my grid) and that is how much gravel I need
to add to each square.

Now comes the fun part. I have a specialized funnel (a cardboard tube
from wrapping paper with a plastic cup taped to the top) that I feed
down each row. The kitchen scale is used to weight out individual
portions of filling. I use this to direct the gravel exactly where I
want it to go. I fill up one horizontal row, then stitch it closed.
I do this all of the way up the blanket, and finally I finish by
attaching the binding to the top side.

It is a tedious job, and there isn't much artistic investment, but I
do get paid $50 for each blanket. I don't charge much for these,
because I don't want parents to not buy a therapeutic product for
their children if they need it. I have made one blanket so far in a
double size, and it was a challenge. I have made a few pieced tops,
but only because I felt the need to be artistic. I wash them in the
machine in the gentle cycle, and hang them up to dry.

I have tried to sell them on Ebay, but the prices there are usually
lower than what I am willing to part with. Good luck with it if you
try to make one, and let me know if you have any questions.

Jen in Florida

Jen in FL wrote:

James' therapist asked me to try my hand at making weighted blankets,
since the person she had been ordering them from usually has a 5+ week
delivery time.

That is very nice of you! The websites that
sell them do have very long lead times. I
have been considering making one for Pillbug,
but his OT has never mentioned it and he does
not use a blanket anyway, so I'm not sure how
well it would work. I should make one that can
be converted to a regular quilt (maybe by using
velcro pockets) just to test.

-- Anita --

On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 05:51:32 GMT, Irrational Number
wrote:

Jen in FL wrote:

James' therapist asked me to try my hand at making weighted blankets,
since the person she had been ordering them from usually has a 5+ week
delivery time.

That is very nice of you! The websites that
sell them do have very long lead times. I
have been considering making one for Pillbug,
but his OT has never mentioned it and he does
not use a blanket anyway, so I'm not sure how
well it would work. I should make one that can
be converted to a regular quilt (maybe by using
velcro pockets) just to test.

Ash has a love for bedding that has led to his using his teddybearskin
rug, and piano mat for blankets. Among other large flat flexible
things.
He has never had a weighted blanket, but in school they roll a
weighted exercise ball over him if he gets over-excited. He loves it
and it works. I haven't been able to find one as heavy as the ones
they use, that I can afford, so I just toss him on his bed and
"squish" him with my hands. He likes that a lot too, and it generally
works.
He is about due another bawa quilt, so maybe I ought to consider doing
a weighted blanket. Though he is eight now (!) and that would be a
lot of weight.

NightMist
--
I'm a little teapot, short and stout
here is my handle, here is my...other...handle?
Bloody Hell!!
I'm a sugar bowl!

Irrational Number wrote:
Jen in FL wrote:

James' therapist asked me to try my hand at making weighted blankets,
since the person she had been ordering them from usually has a 5+ week
delivery time.

That is very nice of you! The websites that
sell them do have very long lead times. I
have been considering making one for Pillbug,
but his OT has never mentioned it and he does
not use a blanket anyway, so I'm not sure how
well it would work. I should make one that can
be converted to a regular quilt (maybe by using
velcro pockets) just to test.

-- Anita --

Could you not maybe make the "inner" with the filled pockets on its own,
and then make something like a duvet cover to go over it (all around it)?

It sounds to me like it really is "simply" a duvet with weighty stuff
rather than with down/fibre for warmth?

I recently went from many years of fibre duvets back to a down duvet and
it drapes around the body so wonderfully, not so much heavy but almost
clingy. I do love that.


Hanne in London

James' therapist asked me to try my hand at making weighted blankets,
since the person she had been ordering them from usually has a 5+ week
delivery time.
That is very nice of you! The websites that
sell them do have very long lead times. I
have been considering making one for Pillbug,
but his OT has never mentioned it and he does
not use a blanket anyway, so I'm not sure how
well it would work. I should make one that can
be converted to a regular quilt (maybe by using
velcro pockets) just to test.
Could you not maybe make the "inner" with the filled pockets on its
own, and then make something like a duvet cover to go over it (all
around it)?

Or maybe a sheet of fabric with a whole lot of baby socks sewn to
it, with the end open? Then drop a pebble into each and tie it with
a cord. That way you could remove the pebbles for washing and you
wouldn't need to fight with velcro.

I wonder if hospitals ever throw out the lead sheeting they use for
X-ray protection? It might be flexible enough for this.

Another way would be to get the pebbles drilled and thread them into a
net, then simply plonk it over the duvet. Or use nuts (the mechanical
sort) the same way - with a duvet underneath, the corners wouldn't be
perceptible.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557

On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:51:13 +0100, Jack Campin - bogus address
wrote:

James' therapist asked me to try my hand at making weighted blankets,
since the person she had been ordering them from usually has a 5+ week
delivery time.
That is very nice of you! The websites that
sell them do have very long lead times. I
have been considering making one for Pillbug,
but his OT has never mentioned it and he does
not use a blanket anyway, so I'm not sure how
well it would work. I should make one that can
be converted to a regular quilt (maybe by using
velcro pockets) just to test.
Could you not maybe make the "inner" with the filled pockets on its
own, and then make something like a duvet cover to go over it (all
around it)?

Or maybe a sheet of fabric with a whole lot of baby socks sewn to
it, with the end open? Then drop a pebble into each and tie it with
a cord. That way you could remove the pebbles for washing and you
wouldn't need to fight with velcro.

I wonder if hospitals ever throw out the lead sheeting they use for
X-ray protection? It might be flexible enough for this.

Another way would be to get the pebbles drilled and thread them into a
net, then simply plonk it over the duvet. Or use nuts (the mechanical
sort) the same way - with a duvet underneath, the corners wouldn't be
perceptible.

Planter beads would probably be too large and irregular, but I wonder
if the "basket beads" (about a quarter of the way down the page) would
work.

http://www.beading.com/month/month6.htm

Just stringing them and then sewing the strings down to a piece of
canvas would make a nice even weight, flexible too. I haven't priced
aquarium gravel so I have no idea what 10 pounds of that costs. I
reckon bead would be easier to work with though. At least for a one
off.

Maybe I ought to email Willis and see if he has any more "burned
beads" going cheap. Sometimes when a shipment isn't up to standards
(he got burned) he lets them go really cheap, especially the fossil
beads and the glass beads.

NightMist
--
I'm a little teapot, short and stout
here is my handle, here is my...other...handle?
Bloody Hell!!
I'm a sugar bowl!