DIY coloring blanket: how to make one, and when a kit is simpler

What you need to make a coloring blanket

You need five things: a blanket, a design, a way to get the design onto the fabric, a black marker for the lines and colored markers for the fill. Pick the flattest, lightest blanket you can find, because deep fluffy pile makes clean lines harder and dark fabric hides the ink.

• A light polyester blanket or throw, plain white or cream, with a short, smooth surface.
• A design: your own drawing, or line art you have the right to use, enlarged to blanket size.
• Transfer supplies: tracing paper, a light source, or a stencil, plus tape.
• A permanent black fabric marker for the outlines, so the lines stay when the colors wash out.
• Colored fabric markers for the fill, washable if you want to start over, permanent if you want to keep it.

How to transfer a design onto fabric

The simplest way is to trace. Tape your printed design to a sunny window or a light box, tape the blanket over it and follow the lines with a pencil or the black marker. On a big blanket, print the design in sections, tape them together and move the blanket section by section.

Two other methods people use: iron-on transfer paper, which carries a printed image onto fabric with heat, and stencils, which you tape down and trace around. Check your blanket's care label before you put an iron on it, since many fleece throws are not meant to be ironed. Whatever you choose, test it first on a corner or a scrap of the same fabric.

Expect this step to take the most effort. Keeping lines steady and even across about 59 x 50 inches is what separates a DIY coloring blanket for adults that looks finished from one that looks like a draft.

Which markers hold after washing

Use a permanent fabric marker for the black lines and choose the coloring markers by what you want after the wash. Permanent fabric markers are made to stay; washable ones are made to come out so you can recolor. On a DIY blanket you can mix the two: permanent lines, washable colors.

We have not tested any brand on homemade blankets, so follow each maker's instructions for drying and washing. Our guide on which markers to use explains the difference in more detail.

Cost of a DIY coloring blanket vs a kit

A DIY coloring blanket usually costs more than a kit once you buy the blanket and the markers. With the two items below, a throw bought on sale and a 24-marker set, you reach $41.60 before tax and shipping, still without paper, tape or transfer supplies. Our coloring blanket kit is $39.99 with free US shipping, and the line art is already printed.

Prices seen online on October 29, 2026:

• A white 50 x 60 in fleece throw (PAVILIA, at Target, third-party seller): $16.11 on sale, $30.99 regular.
• 24 permanent fabric markers, fine and brush tips, black included (Tulip, at Target): $25.49.
• Another marker option: an 8-pack of permanent brush-tip fabric markers (Sharpie Stained, at Staples): $22.99.

When to buy a kit instead

Buy a kit if you want to color, not draw. Our blanket arrives with the design already printed in black lines and 24 washable fabric markers in the box, so you can start the night it arrives. According to the manufacturer, the ink of those markers washes out in a regular machine wash, so you can color the same design again. The Tulip markers in the list above, by contrast, are permanent once dry according to their maker, so a blanket colored with them would not wash out for a second round.

Make your own if the drawing is the point for you: your own picture, your kid's doodle, a family name. Our designs are fixed, and there is no blank version. If you like a kit design and want colors that stay, the permanent fabric markers option adds $9.99 per blanket. More on how the kit works on our color your own blanket page, or go straight to the designs and price.