This is a favourite project of mine when I need something as a gift for a newborn or a baby shower, beautiful cottons on the front, mixed with a highly tactile fabric on the back and then lots of soft satiny ribbons to rub. It’s great for a new baby to snuggle into, and the size makes it an awesome carry around blanket for a toddler. Some may call it a “Taggie”, but those people are obviously not worried about being sued, so this isn’t a “Taggie Tutorial”, it’s a “Ribbon Blanket Tutorial”, ya with me?

Good.

Tutorial, as always, behind the jump —>

You will need:

• 1 Fat Quarter of a quilting cotton – I’ve used Monkey ‘N Round by Erin Michaels for Moda Fabrics, it’s out of print now but you can still find it in a couple of places. Erin also has a new sock monkey range out called “Malibu Monkeys” that features the same characters. I love Erin Michaels’ designs, I have quite a bit of her fabric.
• 1 Fat Quarter for backing – I used Dot Minky, but a soft baby fleece is a cheaper option, Chenille would also work and I’ve also made these using Sherpa before which I love the feel of.
• A coordinating scrap for your appliqué
• Ribbons! – You want a wide range of width and textures, you can’t have too many I pick up ribbons whenever I find them on sale, because if you go out looking for a specific colour or type for a project then I can promise you that there will be nothing suited, or it’ll be completely out of your budget. I buy my ribbon from everywhere, sewing stores, dollar stores, craft shops, high quality gift wrapping ribbon is great, and you can also find some great designs for use in scrapbooking.
• Iron on fusing/webbing

Recommended Fabrics for Tag Blankets:

Tips for sewing with Minky/Minkee:

Minky is a beautiful fabric that is annoyingly hard to describe. The closest I could come up with is a VERY soft faux fur, it comes in a range of styles, dot – as I’m using today, plain, long pile, curly or “snail”, you can also get some beautiful tie dyed Minkys and patterned ones as well. It’s only downfall is that it’s a real beastie to work with, the results are beautiful but it takes some practise to get used to using it. I use Minky in my projects, but more due to habit than to any preference, I have no complaints about it so far. I have heard that Minkee is softer and generally better, but as I’ve never worked with it I can’t say, if Bernartex would like to send me a couple of yards though I would be more than happy to write up a comparison on the name brand vs the generic brand, email me guys!

• Prewash everything! Minky is 100% polyester and so will not shrink, whereas your cotton will, even if you’re not usually a prewasher (*looks guilty*) this is one time when you need to do it.
• Same goes for pinning, I’m a “slapdash” kinda girl and hate pinning with a passion, working with two fabrics with differing stretches means that pinning is essential.
• Don’t over do the ironing! Particularly with the dot minky, it’s formed by high heat and pushing the fabric over a mould, adding heat to it again is going to undo those lovely little dots, plus it’s polyester and you don’t want to cook it. Use a low heat and keep the ironing to the bare minimum that your project needs to look “finished”.
• Use a walking foot – this one is on my to buy list, a walking foot will allow the Minky to feed through much easier, cutting down on puckering or stretching, it’s not essential, but it’ll make your life easier.

First up, square up your two fat quarters, so they measure 18 x 18 inches. I find this is the perfect size for toddlers to lug around without it dragging everywhere, all though you can make it as big or as small as you like, this size also makes them perfect to use up those novelty FQs that you just couldn’t resist.

Draw out your appliqué design on the paper back of your fusible web, don’t forget that whatever you draw will be reversed when it comes to your fabric, so think about what you’re doing before you commit to it with an iron! Following your fusible web instructions fuse your fabric scrap to the interfacing – with the one I use this involves damping the fabric with a sponge and then holding an iron on it for 30 seconds. Once your fused fabric has cooled cut out your design based on the drawing left on the paper. Peel off the backing, place it onto your squared FQ where you want it to be and fuse it once again based on the directions – again, with mine it was just a case of ironing for 30 seconds.

Run around your letter or design using a satin stitch. I have a low end Brother machine so I don’t actually have a dedicated satin stitch, instead I use a button hole stitch set to a very short length, it makes the perfect edge for appliqué and in my opinion looks just as good. Make sure you catch all of the edges to stop any fraying and secure it fully – this blanket is made to be used and abused so it needs to stand up to constant washing.

Cut your ribbon into 4 inch lengths, although you could probably go up to five inches I wouldn’t recommend any longer as I have heard of longer ribbons getting caught in a newborns throat as they suck them. From my testing I believe four inches is the perfect length for there to be enough to play with without safety being an issue. Start sewing them onto the edge of your cotton with a quarter inch seam allowance, with the right side facing up and the ribbon folded in half with the fold pointing towards the centre of the FQ. You can pin if you’re the anal type, but I just use my machine foot to space them evenly. Stitch over them once, then backstitch, sew forward again and then once the ribbon hits the back of your foot add another one. I can’t stress the backstitching enough, again for the sake of safety, you don’t want any of those ribbons coming loose and being a hazard to a baby. Eventually (after what seems like hours of backstitching over ribbon!) you will have a square with the sides entirely covered by ribbons. Now is a good time to press it to minimise the amount of contact the iron will have with the Minky, just be careful around any polyester ribbons.

We’re going to use the pillowcase technique, so pin your Minky to your cotton, with the right sides of your fabric facing each other, and stitch just to the right of the stitching that attached the ribbon, leave a gap of a couple of inches for turning. Trim the corners at an angle to neaten them and then turn the right way out. It’s almost done!

Iron gently and then top stitch all around the edge in a colour that will blend with your Minky – from experience I can guarantee you that contrasting thread and the long pile on this fabric does not look at all nice! Take care to catch both sides of your turning hole. The top stitching makes the 5th time the ribbons have been secured, some call me crazy, I call it safe And viola, or cello if you’re so inclined, you have a finished handmade present perfect for a baby shower gift, something personalised that any child would treasure.

As always, feedback is very much appreciated, and feel free to let me know if you need any clarification on a step

This tutorial is for personal use only, please do not sell the finished items.

ETA: You can see a girly version I made as another present using freezer paper applique instead of fusing here: What I Create – Week Two.