Fidget Blanket - Helping Loved Ones with Dementia

No, this is not an illusion. I am posting another needlework post within the same week! 😄

Maybe it’s the Spring weather, or maybe because we’ll be wrapping up our homeschool soon to enjoy our Summer off. Whatever the case I have been filled with ideas and ambitions and I am going for them all.

Have you heard of a fidget blanket? When dealing with babies and toddlers we call them sensory blankets because they help little ones with hand and eye coordination, helps them stay focused, calm and in their seats as well as helping to improve attention.

A fidget blanket is one made for people dealing with Alzheimer’s or Dementia. Since they tend to fidget with their hands and have a need to stay moving and busy, these blankets give their hands activities to stay busy with. It helps reduce stress, tension, anxieties and gives them something to feel and hold onto.

Providing them with this motor and sensory stimulation can decrease boredom and increase their attention span.

I have to thank @brittandjosie for making me aware of this idea. When she did a post sharing the one she made for her friend’s mother I knew what I needed to do.

We have two loved ones dealing with dementia and it’s heartbreaking hearing about them not remembering things and not being able to keep calm and still. It really saddened me learning about their anxieties and how they repeat the same statements and actions over and over again not even realizing it.

One of these ladies is the mother of a very good friend of ours (for this post we’ll call her Mrs. E) and my husband’s great aunt (we’ll call her Aunt C) is also suffering from dementia. Together with my mother and sister we will be making each one their very own fidget blanket.

I’ll be sharing with you from start to finish the whole process. I’m not sure how many weeks that will be as you know sewing is not my expertise and my sister is also a beginner. My mom is letting us do most of the work and only helping when needed so we can learn through hands-on experience.

I am taking on the blanket for Aunt C and my sister is taking on the blanket for Mrs. E.

The first step was picking out…

Tнє Fαвяι¢

I chose to do a red, black and yellow theme since our aunt’s favorite colors are red and black. I wanted to add a little brightness to help with the stimulation so that’s where the yellow comes in.

My sister chose to do red as her main color as well since Mrs. E’s favorite color is crimson red. She chose to do black and white accents to help bring out the color.

We had to get 1 yard of each fabric choice since we needed a total of 3 yards. The blankets will be a good fit on their laps and there will be enough fabric to hang down on both sides as well. The satin material you see in the back is for the final backing of the quilted blanket.

Tнє Fι∂gєт Tσσℓѕ

This was the fun part for us because we got to decide what type of fidgets we wanted to adorn their blankets.

We wanted a nice variety so we glanced at several blankets online to gather some ideas.

These plastic rings will be attached to the blanket with elastic for the use of pulling. They can also put their fingers through these and move them around as well.

We found these cute buckles along with the regular ones that you squeeze from the side (you can see in the cover photo I’ve already attached mine).

These pretty beads will be attached to a string so they can be twirled and moved back and forth across the blanket.

Of course we wanted zippers. I think these are a great way to keep one’s hands busy.

There’s also ribbon, snaps and buttons. There are a few other pieces you will see later on.

We also purchased some black corduroy material to add the buttons and snaps to.

Mαкιηg тнє Sqυαяєѕ

This was the part my mom did decide to do the most of. Our first day working was measuring and cutting out the squares for the quilt blankets.

Before we came she had already cut the majority of them out so we were helping her finish the rest.

I’m exciting that we are doing a quilt style blanket because I can see myself making more of these in the future. With my mom being a seamstress for over 40 years she has plenty of supplies on hand. We didn’t have to buy any batting because she has tons around the house :D

Here’s a glimpse at our pieces ready to go!

Lєт тнє Sєωιηg Bєgιη

My sister and I both had our own ideas on how we wanted to make the blankets.

She decided in order to make things go faster she would sew 4 blocks of squares together to make bigger areas for fidgeting. She wants Mrs. E to be able to grab the blanket from any spot and have something to fidget with. Her fidget areas will be spread out.

I stuck with keeping the blocks small and adding my fidget pieces to each one. I want the main fidget area to be mainly in the lap area so that if Aunt C wants to lay with the blanket there will be smooth areas of no tools where she can be comfortable. I want it to be a blanket of multi-purpose.

We were able to get a good start and sew our first squares together. I was able to sew on my buckle piece and she placed her pocket for sewing during the next session.

I’ll leave you with a few more photos of progress…

Stay tuned to see more progress as we work weekly on this project :)

All photos are my own and were taken with our Cannon EOS Rebel T6.

Tнαηк Yσυ ~