A Lovie For Levi

What is it about tags that babies love so much? If there's a tag on a toy we give him, Levi goes straight for it. He flicks it with his fingers, sucks on it, and sometimes just stares at it. I'd love to know what he's thinking of when he's looking at it with such deep concentration!

I know Levi is not unique in his love of tags, because there are a ton of tag blankets for sale on Etsy and tutorials online (just google "ribbon tag blanket" and you'll find hundreds of them).

Yesterday, I made Levi his very own Lovie (aka security blanket with tags).  It took about an hour to complete. Well, maybe a bit longer because, have you ever tried to find the grain line in flannel fabric? Ugh! Flannel gets totally stretched out and distorted and it's hard to put a thread through to find the grain. I persevered though and am pleased with the outcome.

Here's how I made Levi's Lovie:

Materials:

Two pieces of flannel fabric (I made mine 14 inches by 18 inches, but if I were to do it again I'd make it square)
Four different ribbons in a variety of widths
Iron
Sewing Machine
Thread
Pins


Process:

1. Cut your fabric and press it.
2. Cut your ribbon. I cut eight strips of each of my four ribbon choices. I cut them four inches long.
3. Place your fabrics together right sides facing in.
4. Make a loop with a length of ribbon and pin it in between your two fabrics with the ends facing OUT.  Pin the ribbon. Continue to pin the ribbons between your fabrics, spacing them out in a pleasing manner.
5. Sew your fabrics together with a 1/4 inch seam allowance, leaving a three inch space open so that you can turn the Lovie right side out.
6. Press your seams open (optional, but worth it!). At the same time, clip your corners to reduce bulk.
7. Turn the Lovie right side out and sew the open space closed, either by hand or machine (I did mine by machine and added two ribbons in the space).
8. Press.
9. Give to your little one for endless entertainment.

Note: I didn't take pictures of the process. My bad! But there are a ton of tutorials on the web. I referred to this one on Craftster.org.

Oh, and I'm linking up with Tip Junkie's Tip Me Tuesday this week.  Check it out!