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When my oldest child was a toddler I came across a small blanket in a boutique that was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was soft and cute and had silky ribbon tags all along the four edges. Have you ever handed a baby an adorable, colorful baby toy only to watch them fixate on the manufacturer's tag attached to bottom? Babies love tags! They love to touch them and chew on them. Forget the toy itself – not nearly as interesting to kids.
Now, at that time my husband and I were living lean and there was no way I was going to buy the boutique blanket. But crafty mom that I was, I figured I could sew something similar on my own. It took me a few tries because I didn't have a ton of experience sewing and my first attempts were less than ideal – one of them had the tags sewn on the inside where they couldn't even be seen.
Eventually the vision in my head was a reality and my version of the tag blanket was born. Each of our other children received their own tag blanket and I have gifted quite a few. It's very easy to sew one and makes the perfect baby shower, 1-year-old birthday present or “great job for giving birth” present. And all you need are basic sewing skills to get the job done.
You can watch the video tutorial here:
Supplies for a tag blanket:
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13x13 inch piece of fabric. I prefer fleece because it is soft, washes well and has just enough stiffness.
13 x 13 inch piece of fabric for the other side. I usually use fleece again, or minky which is quite nice for the tactile factor.
20 pieces of ribbon cut to about 5 ½ inches each. I use ten different ribbons and cut two strips from each type. The satin ribbons and grograin are my favorites. I do avoid anything with glitter however because it tends to rub off and I don't want some child to alarm his parents with glitter poop.
sewing machine
coordinating thread
pins or clips
Get Started Making a Tag Blanket:
Once you have your fabric and ribbons cut, place one of your fabric pieces right side up on your working space. I like to lay out my ribbons five to each side all the way around to make sure I like how they look.
To make it easier, I lay one side out and once I like it, I mirror the same ribbons on the opposite side. For example, on the first side from left to right it will have ribbons A, B, C, D and E. Then on the opposite edge from left to right will be E, D, C, B and A. Make sense? It truly doesn't matter what order you sew the ribbons on – this is just my method.
Just move things around until you are satisfied with which ones are sitting next to each other. Eyeball an equal distance between each one leaving about an inch at either corner empty.
Then, fold each ribbon in half right sides out and pin in place with the loop toward the center of the fabric. I leave about half an inch of ribbon hanging of the edge of the fabric so that I know when I sew the two pieces of fabric together later I won't miss the edge of the ribbon and have to fix it. Is it necessary to use that much at the edges? Not at all. But this is how I avoid using the dreaded seam ripper and it works for me.
Once all the ribbons are pinned on, use your sewing machine to sew about a ¼ inch from the edge all the way around to secure your ribbons.
Sewing them on at this point means that once you are done with the project the ribbons will have been sewn through three times. Then, if junior sucks on the ribbon, chews at it or uses that mad baby strength they won't pull the ribbon out creating a choke hazard.
Now you should have one piece of fabric with 20 ribbons sewn it. You can cut the excess ribbon off making it flush with your fleece. Just make sure not to cut into your seam. This reduces bulk for later.
Next, lay your second piece of fabric on top of the first with the right sides together matching up all the edges and pin it into place. Mark off a two-inch section that you won't sew at this point. I like to use two pins placed perpendicular to the fabric two inches apart to remind me not to sew it shut. Once again, no seam rippers please.
Sew the two pieces together (except that two-inch area). If you sew this with the piece you attached the ribbons to on top you can stitch just to the left of the stitch line you already created. This will enclose the previous seam in the new seam so you don't see it (ask me how I know that).
At this point you can cut the corner of the fabric off. Do not cut your seam, just the excess fabric. This helps reduce the bulk in the corners of your project and makes your corners more corner like.
Flip the blanket right side out using the opening you left and push the edges and corners out completely. I use a poky little stick that came in a bag of Poly-fil to push the corners completely out but you could use a pencil or chop stick or whatever you have handy.
All of the ribbons should be out and you only have a few small steps to go.
Fold the edges of the opening you left inward so that the raw edges are inside the blanket and the ribbons line up with all the others on that side. Sewing about ¼ inch from the edge, sew the opening closed and continue around the entire blanket to “top stitch”.
This provides one more security check for all those ribbons and holds the top and bottom pieces of fabric together.
And now you are done! Doesn't it look like the perfect baby toy?
To make it even easier to give away and just the tiniest bit cuter, attach these free baby gift tag by subscribing down below:
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