Friday, February 22, 2008

Ribbon Blanket

Making a Ribbon Blanket, otherwise know as a "Tag Blanket," is a great, quick gift for a newborn baby. I usually do one layer of flannel and another of fleece but you could do any kind of fabric you like. I have found that I make so many of these that it is economical to buy rolls of different colours of ribbon, to keep on hand, rather than buying individual by-the-yard ribbon.

For this blanket I cut a square of flannel 18 x 18" and a square of cream fleece 18 x 18". I cut 16 pieces of ribbons, each 5" long. You could make the blanket whatever size you want, this is a great place to use up scraps.

Hint: Make sure to pre-wash your flannel, it shrinks a ton.
Lay out the fleece square, right side up, and pin on the ribbons by folding them in half, with wrong sides together, and pinning the raw edges in line with the fleece raw edge.
Lay the flannel square, right side down, onto the fleece and pin around. Sew all the way around with a straight stitch and a 1/4" seam allowance. Leave a hole to turn the blanket right side out.
After sewing, trim all the corners, turn the blanket right side out and remove all the pins. Fold under the fabric from the opening and pin it. Top-stitch all the way around, close to the edge, thereby closing the hole. Top-stitching also acts to reinforce the ribbons.
I like to top-stitch again 3/4" in just to add a nice finish and to prevent the blanket from trying to turn itself inside out in the wash.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

very nice! i'm about to make my first one, although it will be a much smaller one. i got some great merimekko fabric remnants that i want to put to good use.

Green Momma said...

Great, any size will be fun for a baby.

What's merimekko fabric? I've never heard of that.

Care to send a pic?

Anonymous said...

I just made this. It is so easy--the pinning took longer than sewing! I made it for my niece who likes to suck on the tags of EVERYTHING! Thanks for the instructions.

Green Momma said...

Sounds like the tag blanket will be perfect for your niece!

Pinning is a PITA! I have a love/hate relationship with pinning. I love the way everything lines up so much better when you pin but I hate how long it takes!!!!

Anonymous said...

These are wonderful - I've made about a dozen! As the babies keep coming, so do the 'taggies' (as our family has affectionately come to call them). I'm starting to play around with stitching bells into the corners and maybe even using wadding and making a teddy shape...? We'll see how they come out.
Thanks Green Mommy!

Green Momma said...

Wow a dozen!! I'd love to see the teddy shape when you make it, you can even make a tutorial and I'll post it on my site:)

Rebecca

nattyj said...

Thank you so much for the great instructions, I can't wait to make a ribbon blanket, I have 2 new baby nephew twins this week so am keen to make them one each.
Thank you kindly,
natalie www.eissua.blogspot.com
I will be posting this link on my blogsite along with my pictures of the blankets over the coming weeks.

Kathryn said...

what a great idea!! thank you!!

Unknown said...

My daughter told me about these taggies this weekend so I made one today. Very good instructions as I am relatively new to sewing. Plan on making many more. Thanks.

mdlanew said...

Thanks for the instructions. I have seen these tag blankets at other baby showers and as of yet have been unable to find them in the stores. I plan on making a few of these blankets. I have several Grand Nieces and nephews.

karla. said...

I just made my first "taggie!" We have a baby boy on the way and I've been looking for a great tutorial for a while! This was one perfect and easy to follow. I will definitely be including a link on my blog, too, if that's okay with you! Thanks!

Green Momma said...

Thanks for the link, glad to hear you liked the tutorial!