Hey everyone!  I’m Elizabeth from twelve crafts till Christmas. About eight months ago I began sewing and started a little blog called twelve crafts till Christmas on a whim.

You should know that twelve crafts till Christmas has very little to do with Christmas.  You won’t find Christmas-themed recipes, decorating ideas, crafts, traditions . . . I think you get the idea.  I know.  I know.  The name of my blog is a little misleading, but did I mention that I started it on a whim?  That’s the kind of name I could come up with on a whim.

Twelve crafts till Christmas is really all about my journey in making all handmade Christmas gifts for December 2010.  And before you ask . . . yes, I do need an entire year to do that!  Along the way towards my goal, I’ve also been on a mission to inspire people to make at least one – just one (unless you’re inspired to do more) – homemade/handmade gift this year.  There is nothing better than a gift that has been labored over and loved on, so I provide a bunch of tutorials and gift ideas mixed in with my own novice sewing and crafting antics and some super fun (and very messy) kids’ crafts/activities along the way.

Taggie blankets are the old standby when I need a quick baby gift.  I’ve made so many taggies, I could probably make them in my sleep.  Seriously, I think it’s possible.  I used to hide things in my sleep when I was in high school.  I once hid one shoe so well while I was sleeping that we never found it.  If I could do that while sleeping, surely I could make a taggie blanket.

Uhm . . . hello tangent . . . back to the actual point of this post.

I can certainly make taggies, but I’m tired of making them.  Cut squares.  Cut ribbon. Pin. Sew. Turn. Done.  With the arrival of a friend’s new baby, I decided I needed to put a new spin on my old standby.  Thus the monogram taggie was born.  (Did I just use the word “thus”?  Yikes!)

If you’ve made a taggie, you don’t need this tutorial because you can obviously print your letter out, cut and go.  So this is for those of you out there who have yet to venture into the taggie world.  Next time a friend or relative finds themselves with a new baby in the house, try this little tutorial out for a sweet handmade gift.

Here’s what you need:
-fleece, soft fabric or flannel in contrasting or matching patterns/colors
-a variety of ribbons
-a baby link or toy hook

Here’s what you do:
>1)  Use Word, Publisher or whatever to pick a font, make a very large letter using the first letter of the baby’s name (first or last name) print out and cut adding about 1/4 inch edge all the way around when cutting.

2)  Place fabric wrongs sides together.  Pin printed letter to fabric and cut out.

3)  Cut strips of ribbon about four inches long.  I used 14 ribbons total.

4)  Fold ribbons in half and pin around the right side of the thicker of the two fabrics.

5)  Place letters right sides together and pin.

6)  Sew around outside of letter.  If you are doing a letter with an opening in the center of the letter – like A, B, D, etc., don’t sew the center openings and sew all around the outside leaving no opening for turning.  If you are doing a letter like C, S, N, etc., leave a two inch whole for turning when sewing around the outside of the letter.

7)  Unpin, clip corners and turn.  I used the opening in the center of the A for turning.

8)  Topstitch around outside of letter.  If you are doing a C, S, N, etc without a center opening, fold in the turning hole which will be sewn shut in topstitching.  If you are doing another letter with a center opening or two, continue to the next step.
9) Trim opening(s) with pinking shears.  You could do this earlier, but I waited until this point because the fabric could shift in topstitching the outer edge.  I wanted to make sure that the edges were fairly evenly matched in the center.  After cutting with pinking shears, topstitch around opening(s).

10)  Add a baby link and little toy.  Personalized gift . . . done!

Craft on!

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What a fantastic idea that is!  Thank you so much to Elizabeth for putting together that tutorial!  Now go ahead and link up your ideas!!