Tutorial Tuesday: Minky Blankie & Silkie Loops

It is so good to be back after a day from being unplugged (thanks, again, Kelly for the idea!) but I was so thankful that it was also a day of refreshment.

My day away from computers and phones allowed me to finally sit down last night and make my Tutorial Tuesday...which was supposed to be a baby's gift in MARCH (yes, 2 months ago--this procrastination is what an addiction to blog reading and internet surfing will do to you--go unplugged!☺)

For this week's tutorial you will need:

• Good cutting scissors (i used my cutting mat and my rotary cutter for the first time!)
• two pieces of fabric with the same dimensions
• satin ribbon (optional)
• sewing machine (though, you probably could sew it by hand)

1. Get your materials ready. I cut:

• 10 strips of blue satin ribbon and 10 strips of cream satin ribbon of equal length (about 3 inches)
• 1 long strip of blue satin ribbon (which will become the stroller strap)
• each piece of fabric to be the same size as my cutting mat
  

2. Line up your fabric with the GOOD sides facing each other.

3. Prepare the satin "tags" (please see my special note at the end about these tags) by folding the first one you want to use in half.

4. Decide where you want this first satin loop to go--I wanted 4 tags on the shorter end of the blanket and 6 tags on the longer sides of the blanket so I just evenly spaced them out.

5. The trick about these tags is that you need to pin the loops on the INSIDE, between the two pieces of fabric, like so:

6. For the stroller loop, i chose one end (opposite to the end with the applique which is an entirely different post in and of itself), and placed it diagonally on the inside of the two pieces of fabric.

7. When you are all finished pinning your loops, they should look like this:

8. Do NOT forget to leave an opening for you to turn the blanket inside out! I left an opening where my last satin ribbon loop would go:

9. Begin sewing. I used a simple straight stitch. Sew all around the blanket, stopping at the opening, and ensuring that the beginning and end of your stitch is reinforced.

10. Turn your blanket inside out. It will now look like this (cool huh?):

11. Find the opening, pin the last satin loop to the inside of the blanket, and sew an inner stitch to close up the hole.

12. Now create a top-stitch all around the blanket--I used another simple straight stitch and sewed around the blanket, leaving a one-inch border:

13. Trim all the excess string. Step back and admire your new blanket!

all cute and folded up and an example of how it looks on a stroller:

PS Please note that while this blanket incorporates ideas from Taggies, they have a very very strict Patent so, if you make this, don't sell it! This is from their website:

We need all of our valued customers to be aware that our PATENT PROTECTION allows ONLY Taggies, Inc. and its partners to create these special products. Any copies of Taggies products are in direct violation of patent, trademark and copyright law. These copiers currently are and will continue to be pursued. We greatly appreciate being made aware of such items. Not only are we at Taggies committed to protecting our intellectual property, but also want to ensure the safety of children everywhere.

PPS: If you want the button, here it is:

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