Spring means long days in the garden, tall glasses of lemonade on the porch, and for me, endless baby showers. It can overwhelming to find and buy gifts for every shower, and luckily, with some ribbons, clothing labels, fabric scraps and a little creativity, you won’t have to! Enter the Tag Blanket or Taggie. Ever notice how babies can’t keep their mouths off clothing labels and garment tags? Tags are perfect for babies to grab onto, play with, and chew on, and the fact that they stick out from toys and clothes makes them easily accessible. This DIY baby blanket is the perfect way to occupy little hands and mouths without sacrificing your clothing labels, and you can whip it up in less than an hour.
**Remember, this DIY baby blanket is more for the tags and less for the warmth, so it can be as big or small as you like.**
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
- Fleece, micro plush, or some other soft fabric, cut to preferred size
- Cotton fabric, cut to match
- Assorted ribbons, clothing labels, garment tags (variable textures are ideal) about 3-4 inches in length
- Straight pins
- Sewing machine or needle and thread
STEP 1. Lay out your cotton fabric, raw side down. The pattern should be visible. Folding your ribbons in half (front side out), place and pin them at various intervals along the perimeter of the fabric. Match the raw side of the ribbon to the raw side of the fabric, and make sure your ribbon loops are facing in. A quick baste stitch is helpful here to hold the ribbons in place.
STEP 2. After you have finished placing your ribbons/labels around the perimeter of the cotton, place fleece/plush fabric on top, raw side up. The ribbon loops should be sandwiched in between the good sides of your fabric pieces.
STEP 3. Sew around the perimeter about 1.5” in, to create a seam, leaving 2” – 3” open toward the center of one side, so that you can turn the whole thing inside out.
STEP 4. Turn inside out so that your loops are sticking out the sides of your blanket, and finish the raw seam with a whip stick or iron-on seam.
And just like that, you’re done and ready to head to your next baby shower! By the way, don't forget to sew a custom label on your homemade blanket!
