How to make a ribbon blanket / cushion - taggie blanket

My wee boy, Harry, was 6 months last week and I realised I hadn't made him anything yet, so I bought some plushie fabric (the softest fabric I have ever felt) and some ribbon. I chose a light blue dimple fabric for the back and Robert Kaufman's Urban Zoologie in blue for the front. I picked a Gruffalo ribbon for the tags.

Supplies
23x23cm of two plushy fabrics (You can order pre-cut squares of fabric from eBay)
4m ribbon
Spool of ribbon
Sewing Machine
Pins
Needle
Pencil
Scissors/Rotary Cutter
Stuffing (Optional)

Urban Zoologie

I ordered 50cm squares of fabric, so first cut my fabrics to size. I pinned them together so that they were the same size.

Flip the fabrics over so they are right sides together and re-pin.

Next cut your ribbon to size, I used all the same ribbon for this blanket, but you can use more than one design or texture for another sensory experience!

Make a ribbon sandwich by making a loop with each piece and pinning it so that the right sides of the ribbon are to the right sides of the fabric, as below. Make sure the loop is hidden in the blanket, and have a tiny bit of ribbon showing so that you know where the ribbon is, important when sewing together.

Now sew together! Watch out for the pins and start sewing about 1cm from the edge. Start by sewing from the middle of one edge; forward, reverse stitch, then continue on until you reach the first ribbon. 

Sew over the ribbon, then reverse and sew back over the whole ribbon, then back over it again, this will secure the ribbon for little (curious) hands!

Remember to keep your needle in your work when you are turning corners, this makes your stitching neat.

Stop when you get around 2" from the start of your stitching and reverse stitch to secure.

Turn the blanket right sides out through the gap, use a pencil to poke the corners out so they are nice and square. Woohoo, it looks fab!

Before you start celebrating, you can now decide if you want to make a blanket or cushion, if you want to make a cushion now is the time to stuff until your happy with the firmness.

When your finished (or if you've skipped that step, keeping it as a blanket), slip stitch the opening closed. 

Now your done! Make sure all your thread are secured, and always supervise any babies or small children while they are playing with the blanket.

I used the same technique as above and made Lily a pirate, soft ball when she was little, which was great for little hands and grumpy toddlers!

Enjoy!