Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Very loved, very tattered blankie - what to do with it?

29 replies

BlankiePatientZero · 28/11/2020 17:22

I know MN will have answers to this question

DD has a beloved and very tattered blanket ("blankie") It began life as one of those big white cellular bed blankets with a satin ribbon trim. Lovely. Twenty years later it is about the size of a napkin and held together in dubious looking ropes. It is the colour of, well I can't even describe it!

You would think it would be a hazard to human health but it's actually quite clean as I carefully handwash it when she's out (when she was a teenager we had a few years where she hid it before school, we always looked for it and if we found it we would take a photo of DH or I putting it in the washing machine sometimes we did ransom notes and everything...

She is due to go to uni next year and (understandably) wants to take Blankie but not be shunned and ostracised by revolted housemates (I have assured her lots will have similar!) so we need a solution to this...

So wisdom of MN, what shall we do with it? I thought of just sewing it inside a pillowcase/cushion case, DD thought it could go into the tummy of a teddy bear or something. DD asked me to have a think so I'm asking MN and will pass it all off as my own ideas naturally

This is a photo from the internet of a similar blanket (not THE Blankie) so you have an idea of what we are dealing with here...

Thanks in advance...

Very loved, very tattered blankie - what to do with it?

OP posts:

Original poster

BlankiePatientZero · 28/11/2020 17:23

Also, any ideas must be able to be completed within a day so it can be slept with at night (I was amazed it was allowed with her in hospital a while ago!)

I have a sewing machine but a limited budget and skills

OP posts:

pinkhousesarebest · 28/11/2020 17:28

We have the same! It still goes in the car in the mornings ( shés almost 17). I have great difficulty getting it off her to wash. It was lost once when she was three ( left at the pool) but she has never been without it since. Don’t get me started on my ds’s pink Boden ( from 2002) dressing
Dd is shameless in her adoration and all her friends, both male and female know about it. Interestingly many of them have said they also have one.

Thecazelets · 28/11/2020 17:29

DS has exactly the same. I can still remember the fat tears rolling down his face the day I suggested he'd grown out of Blankie when he was about ten.

Away at university now, and Blankie lives in his underwear drawer I think.

Pandoraslastchance · 28/11/2020 17:30

I have a much loved ex-blanket. When I left home my grandma put it in a cushion case so that I could still twiddle and cuddle it.

MrsWooster · 28/11/2020 17:33

One of those wheatbag or microwaveable hotwaterbottles With a removeable cover? Incorporate blankie into a pouch in the cover and s/he can live a stealth life as a comforter indefinitely?

CountFosco · 28/11/2020 17:37

My brother (now in his 40s) had a much loved blanket, Mum cut off the satin trim for him when he started school so he could take it with him. Probably a bit late for you to follow suit!

Gancanny · 28/11/2020 17:39

Take it to Build-a-Bear when they reopen and get them to put it inside a teddy for her.

mineofuselessinformation · 28/11/2020 17:39

Stitch it carefully into another piece of fabric?

Original poster

BlankiePatientZero · 28/11/2020 17:40

I knew there would be lots of people in similar situations! (And in fact I have more DC attached to Blankies who will be following in DD's footsteps )

I am leaning towards the cushion and perhaps having special access for stroking and twirling it through the zip. The thought of it going near the microwave though makes me want to call 999 in advance just to be on the safe side...

OP posts:

Original poster

BlankiePatientZero · 28/11/2020 17:41

I'm actually wondering about dividing it into two so there is a back up...

OP posts:

Lastnamefirst · 28/11/2020 17:43

I have a similar one - and I’m in my mid 30s and married! It’s a part of me. I brought it to uni - presumably she will have her own room? She can put it under her pillow or store it safely under her bed during the day. No one knew about mine!

sanmiguel · 28/11/2020 17:49

We also have one that had to be cut into 4 to ensure grandparents had a bit in their custody in case I forgot to pack it! My mum once drove an hour to bring me her bit of the snuggly blanket as my DC had elected they had now outgrown blankie, but quickly changed their mind at bed time when away for the weekend! After that time we've never left it. We thought 8, 10, 12 might see the end of blankie.... nope. If I'd have known we would have this attachment to a blanket, I'd have certainly upgraded from what is actually a 1 pound primark felt pram blanket that I picked up as a put me on when it turned chilly when out and needed another layer!!
I am now thinking we will also see university with this threadbare bit of fluff .

Fairybatman · 28/11/2020 17:49

I would second putting it in a build a bear. That way it can be coddled or stroked and no risk of it being seen. It will also be relatively easy to get back out if you ever need to. Could make it a good luck present for starting uni.

AdaColeman · 28/11/2020 18:02

Tie die it. Then iron it and spread it out to show the net like structure. Place it on an appropriately coloured card backing and frame it.

Hang it up in her bedroom, if anyone asks, it's a piece of free structured weaving.

Arthersleep · 28/11/2020 18:11

Thread a stick through the top, add some tassels and... Voila, you have an artisan Macrame wall hanging. All the rage don't you know!

TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince · 28/11/2020 18:13

My ds took his doggy. All his housemates had theirs.

They made a pact that no matter how pissed they were no ones special blankie/toy was touched.

Original poster

BlankiePatientZero · 28/11/2020 18:13

I really wish I could post a photo of Blankie as the thought of displaying it on the wall is making me

It looks like inside a teddy is the way to go. (Is Build a Bear still as horrifically overpriced as it was when my DC were younger?) I might take a trip to the local haberdashery instead...

OP posts:

Labobo · 28/11/2020 18:14

Can you roll it up and tie it with a ribbon so it's a sort of scroll? That way she can still hold it at night but it won't look like a rag.

SebastianTheCrab · 28/11/2020 18:15

Maybe cut a tiny piece of and put it in a locket as a back up.

Russell19 · 28/11/2020 18:23

I'm 28 and have a similar blanket. I took it to uni and my flat mate next door had exactly the same! It made me laugh. I used to keep mine inside my pillow cover when I'd made the bed, just so I knew it was safe. Wasn't hidden or sewn away or anything though. I think the best idea is a hot water bottle cover minus the actual bottle so its just like a blanket holder.

MrsWooster · 28/11/2020 18:29

@BlankiePatientZero

I knew there would be lots of people in similar situations! (And in fact I have more DC attached to Blankies who will be following in DD's footsteps

)

I was more thinking of blankie being part of the cover that comes off while the innards goes in the microwave! The thought of the therapy necessary if you are seen as responsible for blankie’s fiery death makes my hair curl!!

RandomMess · 28/11/2020 18:30

If it's inside a bear how will she smell it and touch it

Bobkitten · 28/11/2020 18:32

It can be hidden. I took my blanket to university - he (yes, it’s a ‘he) was hidden in my pillowcase and nobody ever found out. I’d sniff him in secret

Not even my boyfriend knew, and we shared the same bed for at a good 18 months before I plucked up the courage to admit having a blankie. Luckily he was in love at that point, so wasn’t put off. Blanket was finally free to come out not only at bedtime, but the occasional TV time too.

I am happy to say that nearly two decades later, both man and blanket still both share my bed.

I remember my dad telling me age 12 that I really must give up my blanket. Imagine if I still had him at - gasp - age 30?

I’m nearly 40 now and nobody will separate me and my blanket.

mineofuselessinformation · 28/11/2020 19:27

If you want to go with the inside a bear idea, you can get them with a pouch built in, and a zip. They're designed for gifts.

Original poster

BlankiePatientZero · 28/11/2020 19:44

Believe me labobo there is no way on earth this rag Blankie would ever resemble a scroll

Yes, I was going to put a zip in the bear, or maybe seal the special Blankie pouch bit with Velcro.

Nice to hear so many of us have a foot in the Blankie camp. I myself have a 40 year old toy rabbit and I can only go to sleep if I'm rubbing it's nose (that looks slightly less normal written down than it sounds in my head). DH works funny shifts so if he is going out at bedtime he "tucks" us both in

My DC never stood a chance really, did they...

OP posts:

Flip

1 2

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

Join Mumsnet Log In

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.