What is a Fidget Blanket?

Fidget blankets, also known as “sensory blankets,” are a great tool to implement with your loved one with dementia who struggles with restlessness and agitation.

The blanket provides both visual and touch stimulation that promotes emotional regulation and functional sensory exploration.

The key is to incorporate meaningful characteristics that are individualized to your loved one in order to elicit engagement and purpose.

A fidget blanket is a great item to provide your loved one during times of day he or she becomes agitated or restless, such as late afternoon/evening, for those individuals who struggle with Sundowner’s Syndrome.

How to Make Your Own Fidget Blanket

Fidget blankets are fairly simple to make and you can often design them with extra fabric and supplies you have lying around your house from previous projects. The following is a common pattern Katie and I have utilized to make fidget blankets for our clients and family friends. It is important to note that this is just an example of a pattern and I encourage you to make the blanket your own, depending upon your loved one’s individual needs.

In the pictures to follow, there are two different fidget blankets pictured. One blanket was made for a family friend with dementia who loves hockey, patriotism, and Christmas, especially Santa Claus. The other blanket was made for a client who loved the ocean and worked on a dock.

As I said previously, the most essential component of this project is to incorporate items that are meaningful to your loved one.

Supplies Needed:

• Fabric (different textures/materials and colors)
• Zippers, buttons, yarn, and lacing
  • Caution: If your loved one has a tendency to put things into his or her mouth refrain from using items that resemble food or small objects, such as beads, in order to reduce chocking hazard.
• Batting
• Sewing Machine and Thread
• Scissors
• Characteristics/items personal to loved one (for our blanket we incorporated “Santa’s beard” white fuzzy fabric, Christmas garland, hockey fabric and jersey w/ lacing, and red, white, and blue beads)

Directions:

1. Cut your fabric for the front of your blanket using the following dimensions:

1. 9, 6″x6″ squares

2. 2, 2.5″ wide x20″ long strips

2. Sew your fabric together. Start by making your three rows of three squares.

Place the right sides of two squares together.

Place fabric in sewing machine and use a 1/4″ seam allowance.

After all three rows are created, sew the rows together using the same method as above (i.e. place right sides together, sew with 1/4″ seam allowance):

Once the front of the blanket is sewn, sew on the long strips (on on the left side and one on the right side of the blanket). If your strips are longer than the blanket squares (I precut my strips long in case the sewing isn’t perfect), cut the strips so the edges are even.

Your finished front will look something like this:

3. Decorate Your Blanket:

Add zippers, beads, buttons, and other personal items to the front of your blanket. For the blanket shown we added:

• Christmas garland by sewing the ends directly to the fabric
• “Hockey Jersey” using eyelets and shoe laces
• Strung beads on yarn by securing onto blanket with hand sewn buttons
• For “fidget buttons” sewed buttons onto fabric then cut felt circles w/ small opening in the middle to thread/unthread from buttons

4. Cut the batting and back fabric

Use the front of the blanket as a template for the felt back and the batting:

To cut the back: Cut a few inches away from the front of the blanket. That way if your sewing isn’t perfect, there will still be plenty of fabric to cover the back.

**If you’re using scissors, trace the square a few inches away from the front, then cut**

To cut the batting: Cut close to the edge of the front. It’s okay if the batting ends up being a little smaller than then front of the blanket, because it won’t be seen.

5. Make a “sandwich” with the back, batting, and front of the blanket:

Place the back piece of the blanket down on your table. Spray the batting with spray bond, then place the sprayed side down on the back piece. Then spray the batting again, and lay the front piece of the blanket down, right side up.

**If you don’t have spray bond, just lay the batting down in the middle of the back piece, then place the front piece on top and pin around the edges of the blanket.**

6. Sew the “sandwiched” blanket together:

Use the same 1/4″ seam allowance and sew around the entire blanket.

After the blanket is sewn together, cut the excess batting and back fabric, so the edges come together evenly.

The finished product will look something like this:

7. Give the blanket to your loved one and enjoy!

Video Demonstration:

The following is a video that demonstrates the steps outlined above. This is the blanket for a client who loves the ocean and previously worked at a dock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DHuzw4L0eM&feature=youtu.be

HAPPY CRAFTING!

As always we would love to hear from you. Please be sure to comment and submit a picture of your finished blanket at the bottom of this article.

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