Crinkle Taggie Blankie

My favorite thing to make!!

Give to any 4 Month Old and they'll fall in love, the secret?  Sewn inside is an empty wipe package that crinkles like no other material on Earth!  They can't get enough!  And for my own Lil lovebug I have modified and started adding a corner taggie long enough to hold a pacifier or teething toy. For this and most of my other projects, I like to use what I have as much as possible!  Extra ribbon = Perfect!  1 yard of each fabric should yield at least 4 blankies.  Here's how to make it!

Step #1

Grab some super soft fabric, remember they will be chewing on this and rubbing against their soft little faces!!  Cut a square of each fabric about 12-14 inches.

Step #2

If you have a friend that uses wipes, have them start saving them for you!  Trust me, once you give one of these away you'll be making more for sure!!  I make my own wipes (another blog for another time, lol) but I highly recommend Target's Sensitive Skin wipes! 

  Anywho... Grab one empty wipe container and carefully take top plastic piece off if equipped with one, and cut as close to side edges as you can. Then cut along closure seam. You'll end up with something like this!

Step #3

Time for pins!!  Grab some sewing pins, and let's put the first piece together!  Take one of your pieces of fabric and flip it over so you're pinning to the back.  You'll only be able to pin the long sides of the wipe container, so go along each long side and pin leaving room to sew.

Still with me??  Pretty easy so far right??  Most of this project lies in the prep, and once you make one you'll fly right through that as well!  Like anything, it just takes practice, but this was my very first sewing machine project after waiting in line on Black Friday to get my very first sewing machine!  Good Times, NOT!!

Step #4

This is where your all that extra ribbon you have just crammed into a drawer comes into play!  Cut 8 pieces of all different width, color, pattern varying the length between 6-9 inches long, and one skinnier piece of ribbon about 9-11 inches for the paci/toy attachment if wanted.  You'll see that I don't like things to be too perfect, it's handmade for a reason!  Ok, once you've cut your ribbon you'll need to pin it.  On the front of the piece of fabric that you just attached the wipe pack.  Two pieces of ribbon per side of the blankie, and the long paci/toy piece off one of the corners.  Make sure you take your time on this step and look at the pic, it tricked me a few times!

Here's how you'll start your next step!

Step #5

Almost ready to sew!  Take your leftover piece of fabric and place face down on top of what's pictured above, and pin it around the outside leaving enough room to sew.  This way when you're done sewing, you'll just flip it inside out

Step #6

SEW IT!!  FINALLY RIGHT??  I told you...  this first time, it seems like it takes forever to prep!  Sew a straight edge on 3 of the 4 sides, leaving one open to pull the insides out!  Kind of the way you would when sewing a pillow, said the girl who knows almost nothing about sewing!  Once you do that and before you flip it to the right side, you'll want to trim the excess off the edges.

Step #7

Ok, now it's time to flip it!  WAIT...  be SUPER CAREFUL on this because you have the 5,000 pins that you used to hold it together inside there, and it'll feel like a bad game of Fear Factor if you rush in!  Once you flip it, you'll remove all of the pins.  Even the ones on the edge that hasn't been sewn, trust me we'll reattach those 2 pieces of ribbon back on!

Step #8

Tuck the final side into itself and pin the ribbons so they're pointing out like the rest now are.

Step #9

Let's finish this thing!!!  We're going to now change the sewing machine to the zigzag stitch and sew a border close to the edge all the way around the blankie.  You'll want to get as close as possible to the edge on the open side.  AnnnnD...  YOU"RE DONE!  How's it look?  You won't know exactly how well it's turned out until you place it in the hands of a 4 Month Old.  I say 4 Months, because this is around the time they start to learn to grab things and when they hear that crinkle... it's on!  I gave one to my friend's daughter at 4 Months and now at almost a Year Old, she doesn't go anywhere without it!  SCORE!! 

Don't forget to Make it Your Own & Make it FUN!!