Bunny rug for baby - tutorial

Want to help me to make a present for newly arrived/expected soon babies?  My mother continuously asked me if I had any bunny rugs when I was expecting DS1, I never found any in the shops the same as she had when we were born (although the hospital had them), but this is my home made equivalent.  

In this post I used a 75 cm length x width of fabric in two different flannel prints.  In the past I have also made them 1 metre x width of fabric. Take your two pieces of flannel and iron (steam is best) them right sides together.  I try to line up one short and one long edge - the animal fabric was not as wide as the pink, go figure I thought width was standard!

 Trim the selvage's off both sides, and even up the top and bottom.

 Using a side plate as a guide, cut off each corner so that it is rounded.

 Pin the corners as you go.  I didn't bother pinning the straight edges, as the flannel sticks together really well if you iron it all over first.  Yeah I know, who likes ironing, but it makes for a better result!

 Using your walking foot, sew a quarter inch seam right around the edge of your blanket, leaving a 5" gap.  Make sure you do a little reverse on each side of your gap.  (If you have a overlocker, you may like to also stitch the edges to reinforce them, making sure you do the gap edges separately.)

 Put your hand into the gap and grab the nearest corner, then pull the rest of the blanket through carefully.  Press the whole blanket again, taking care with the edges, ensuring they are fully pulled out.  I kind of roll the edge between my fingers (not sure how else to describe it!) to make sure the two layers sit flat.  You could also gently poke the edges out with your finger from the inside.  Iron down the seam allowance at your opening, so they sit nicely.

Now using a coordinating thread, top stitch (sew a 1/8" seam) right around the blanket edge, sealing up the opening.  The top stitching reinforces the seams, as flannel does tend to fray over time and this blanket will be washed a lot.  If you like you can do two round of top stitching to make it extra secure.

And your done, one bunny rug for baby!  If you use the 75cm length they make good baby wraps for newborns, if you go the longer drop they are more suitable as a cot blanket - or perfect for autumn born babies that are going to be wrapped (and grow longer) right through winter and cooler spring nights.

I made four, two for gifts (one pink for a girl and one green for gender unconfirmed) and two I am sending HERE....for the babies of PNG, if you wish to help also read this POST. 
Happy quilting Sue SA.