Taggie Blankie Sewing Tutorial

My mom and I have finally decided to get a table at a craft show. Actually it is a mom to mom sale as a fundraiser for Great Lakes Christian High School in Beamsville, ON where I attended and my father works. I visited some friends and their baby a few weeks ago and saw that she had one of these taggie blankies, and of course my first thought was "I could totally make that". I found a tutorial on Pinterest to get me started, but here is mine anyways. I was going to make one over my reading week and thought I might as well make a few, and ended up making 14! It is pretty easy, but can be time consuming cutting and pinning all the ribbons. Hopefully it will be a big seller at the sale! These are more sensory toys than actual blankets. Babies like the different colors and textures of the ribbons to fell, look at, and suck on. I gave one to my 7 month old niece and she loves it!

You will need:
-Two pieces of fabric 16" x 16" (I used flannelette and fleece, but minky fabric and cotton would work too. If you have smaller pieces you can use that too I have seen some that are 8" x 8")
-16 pieces of ribbon 5" long, various colors, textures, widths
-Sewing machine
-Thread
-Pins
-Iron and ironing board

Directions:
1. Cut two pieces of fabric that are 16" x 16" (approx) squares.

2. Cut 16 pieces of ribbon that are 5" long. Iron them if they have creases.

3. Pin the two pieces of fabric together with just one pin in the middle, wrong side facing each other (on the inside). Pin the ribbons by folding it in half (right side facing out), and tucking it between the two pieces of fabric (edges touching). Pin 4 on each side, evenly spaced.

4. Sew along the edges using a straight stitch, leaving a gap between two of the ribbons (I place another pin between two ribbons to remind me not to sew it completely shut.) When you get to a ribbon, use your reverse button and go back over the ribbon twice to hold it in place (4 times total- 2 forward and 2 backward).

5. Take out the pins, and flip it right side out through your hole, and poke the corners out using a pencil. Iron it flat and make the edges flat.

6. Zig zag stitch around the whole edge, paying special attention to where the hole is (make sure those edges are tucked in good!

 

All done! The only thing left to do is give it to a baby!