Baby Taggie Blanket ~ Tutorial

I have seen these ADORABLE taggie blankets all over the place.  I saw a few tutorials months ago, and I was too lazy to look them up when I made this.  I wanted to make one as a gift and (as usual) I decided to 'wing it'.  No joke, it took me about 20 minutes to make.

notes: These blankets can come in sizes ranging from 12 inch square to 20 inch square.  You decide how big!  I started mine with 16 inch square knowing it would finish a bit smaller.  If you go much bigger than 16 inches you should 'quilt' the blanket so the layers stay together. (You could just do two lines of stitching down the center of the width and the center of the length resulting in four 'squares'.)

Materials:
~ 16" x 16" Soft awesome fabric of your choice (minkie, flannel, satin... etc)
~ 16" x 16" fun print fabric
~ 16" x 16" Warm and White (or Warm and Natural) batting
~ assorted coordinating ribbons

I used this crazy soft fabric that's all swirly.  It feels like rabbit fur!
Cut your ribbons into different sized pieces.  They can range from 3 to 6 inches long.

Pin your ribbons where desired.  Be sure to match the raw edges of your ribbons with the raw edge of your fabric as shown!  (...notice how all of my pins are going in different directions...you should pin them like the two large ribbons on the bottom.  That way when you 'baste' the pins will be out of the way of your machine.)

note: If you are smart (i.e. not me) you will machine baste all of the ribbons to the right side of one of the single layers of fabric.  I was in a hurry and so I just left them pinned... it obviously took longer to sew together because I had to keep stopping and lifting up my other layers to find the pins hidden below.)

Layer your Fabrics as shown above.

Bottom layer ~ Right Side Up ~ Fabric with ribbons attached
Middle layer ~ Right Side Down ~ other pretty fabric
Top layer ~ Batting

EDIT Nov. 2013:  I have not made a ton of these and I would suggest changing the order a bit.  Minky is always annoying to sew with so I've been putting the Minky and in the middle.
Bottom layer ~ batting (this will agree with your feed dogs much better!)
Middle layer ~ Right side Up ~ Minky with ribbons attached
Top layer ~ Right Side Down ~ Pretty fabric. (this will also feed nicely under your presser foot)

As long as your pretty fabric and minky are Right Sides Together you will be all set!

Sew around the edges using a 5/8" seam allowance.  Make sure you are grabbing all layers.  LEAVE A THREE INCH hole in which to turn.  note: If you want, you can backstitch over each ribbon to make sure they are extra secure.

Trim seam allowance to around 1/4".
Clip corners.
Turn and use a bone folder or knitting needle to push the corners out.

Now it's all cute and puffy (shown above).

Topstitch with matching thread all the way around.  You should aim to sew 1/4 inch away from the edge.  Carefully pin your 'hole' and topstitch over catching all fabrics to secure.

Other side all topstitched

Oh, both sides!

Rolled up!  =)  I mean really? how cute is this!?!

Thanks for stopping by!

I would love to see your taggie blankets!!!  Post them to my Flickr Group!!
Sew Divertimento Divas

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