Tag Blankie Tutorial

Jill made Abigail a tag blanket when she was little (the one in the 2nd picture,) and she loved it and loved it! As a baby she liked to flick-flick-flick the little tags, or get her fingers in the loops, or just suck on them. As she grew up they because nice place mats for tea parties, great doll blankets, and the occasional frisbee. (I think maybe I should subtitle this blog "Things Jill made for my kids that I copy now.")

Now the tag blankie is one of my go to baby gifts. They are simple to make, and I can whip out a set of 4 or 6 in an afternoon. I usually make them assembly line style, repeating each step for however many I am making. For this picture tutorial, though, I just did one.

Materials:

Soft fabric like fleece or minkee. I used to always use fleece on both sides. But then I discovered the super soft minkee fabric, and I like to use that on one side. I wouldn't use two sides with minkee, though, because I think it wouldn't have enough form.

Ribbon. You can start with as few as 5 different ribbons, but the more the better. There is almost always a bin of $1 ribbons outside craft stores. I have grabbed one here and one there, and before I knew it I had a giant bin full. Most of the mine are 5/8" width, but a variety of sizes makes the blankies more fun.

Step 1: Cut fabric into 9" squares. (You could go bigger or smaller depending on your fabric. This piece of minkee was 18" so I just went with 9".) You'll need two pieces of fabric per blanket.

Step 2: Cut an assortment of ribbon into 4" strips. You'll need 20 per blanket.

Step 3: Choose the 20 ribbons you want for your blanket. (I used 2 sets of 10 different ribbons.) Set them out in the order you intend to place them onto the blanket.
Step 4: Take one piece of fleece, right side up, and space the ribbons out evenly, right side down.
Step 5: Using a 1/2" seam allowance, sew down the edge of the fleece, attaching the ribbons. Just before you get to each ribbon, flip it into a loop, and hold it as you stitch. The raw edges of the ribbon will touch the raw edge of the fleece.
Do this on all four sides and you will get the following.
Step 6: Place your second piece of fabric right side down on top of the ribboned fabric. (If I'm using two pieces of fleece I usually don't pin, since they stick together pretty well. But with minkee I do pin, because it is slippery stuff.) Sew around the outside, using a 1/2" seam allowance (you can sew right on top of the seam holding down the ribbons for a guide.) Leave a 2-3" opening for turning.

Flip it right side out, and you should have the following. Notice the opening at the bottom.
Step 7: Lay the opening spot flat and pin.
Step 8: Top stitch as closely as you can around the edges. This will finish it off, and close the opening without any hand stitching!
All done!

Directions without pictures:

Materials:
2-9" squares of fleece or 1 fleece and one minkee
20-4" pieces of various ribbon

Step 1: Cut fabric into 9" squares.

Step 2: Cut an assortment of ribbon into 4" strips. You'll need 20 per blanket.

Step 3: Set the ribbons out in the order you intend to place them onto the blanket.

Step 4: Take one piece of fleece, right side up, and space the ribbons out evenly, right side down.

Step 5: Using a 1/2" seam allowance, sew down the edge of the fleece, attaching the ribbons. Just before you get to each ribbon, flip it into a loop, and hold it as you stitch. The raw edges of the ribbon will touch the raw edge of the fleece.

Step 6: Place your second piece of fabric right side down on top of the ribboned fabric. Sew around the outside, using a 1/2" seam allowance. Leave a 2-3" opening for turning.

Step 7: Lay the opening spot flat and pin.

Step 8: Top stitch as closely as you can around the edges.