Over the past few weeks I have watched Little Bear (who is now almost 7 months old) become absolutely fascinated with tags. Whether it is on a stuffed animal, a piece of clothing, or a soft toy ... she zeros in on the tag and ignores everything else! I've watched her sit for 10 minutes with a multitude of toys around her, playing only with a tag. She is getting better at her fine motor skills and enjoys using her fingers to make the tag move. She also seems to love the feel of tags in her mouth and can chew on one longer than almost anything else. One of Kyle's friends informed me about "tag blankets" - something I had never heard of before. I looked them up on the internet and knew instantly that the idea would be a hit with Little Bear.
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| Two sets of tag blankets & bibs. |
A "tag blanket" (or "taggies" ... as I've also seen them called) is simply a small double-sided blanket that has a multitude of tags sewn around the edge of it. It's a simple yet brilliant idea. They are made in many different sizes and cost anywhere from $15 - $30. I thought it would be a lot more fun to sew one myself since I could not only save money, but also personalize it with the colors and patterns I wanted. Little Bear and I made a trip to Jo-Ann Fabrics (in between snow storms) and spent a solid 30 minutes looking at fabrics, ribbons, and iron-on patches. It was a lot of fun - and Little Bear enjoyed riding around in the cart looking at all the colors around us.
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| Close-up of blanket & tags. |
I always recommended going to the "scrap" section of a fabric store where you can find remnants of fabric at really good prices! If you are really feeling thrifty, you can usually find fun shirts/skirts/etc. at Goodwill and re-use that fabric. If you aren't feeling very creative, you can always rely on little bundles that the fabric store cuts and puts together of fabrics that go well together. These usually cost around $10 and will supply you with enough fabric to make several blankets. When choosing ribbons, I suggest buying several different widths of ribbon in order to add more contrast and something a little different.
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| Soft material with sew/iron-ons added. |
Because there are so many websites explaining how to make a basic tag blanket, I won't re-explain the process. My only recommendation in addition to the instructions on the websites would be to have fun with adding iron-ons and sew-ons. Make sure that all iron-ons are also stitched, just to make sure they are secure and can withstand multiple washings and many hours of baby hands pulling on them. Here are several links I found that explain how to make a blanket:
It only takes about 30 minutes to make a tag blanket ... less time once you know what you are doing. They would make a wonderful home-made gift to give a friend with a little one. I went ahead and made matching bibs out of the same material (I just traced a bib onto fabric, sewed them wrong-side out with a few inches to pull them through right-side out, then did a final stitch around the edge and a little velcro on the ends - takes about 10 minutes). They make a great looking gift set! I love receiving home-made gifts from friends and am trying to give more of them this year, as well.
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