Baby Taggie - Redesigned

I have a baby shower I am going to that is coming up.  As usual, I want to make the gifts to give for the new baby.  The baby invite was a pink giraffe with pink zebra print.  I decided to make a taggie blanket in a giraffe shape with pink and minky fabric for the new baby girl.

For this project, I used white minky fabric - which I find to be a pain at times because it pulls and slips so easily, and pink fleece - just because it stuck out to me in my stash.

Your taggie blanket can be any size, or course, but mine is about 8 inches tall.  I wanted a small blanket to be able to easily take on the go.  You can add eyes or an amount of details to really personalize this project.

What you need first for this project is a shape for your blanket.  I traced the small giraffe from this pattern:
McCalls M6136 Retro Lamb, Horse and Giraffe In 2 Sizes

Here is my simple giraffe shape.  I find that using the minky material you need a simple shape.  Too complex and it becomes difficult to work with.

Pink your shape to your minky fabric (if you are using minky)

Since the legs are so close together, I just cut a slit between them, not keeping to the curve.

Next, put your minky and your other fabric right sides together and pin.  I actually do not cut out the other material when working with minky - just the slight suggestion of the shape.  I do this because the minky fabric tends to pull and this helps eliminate gaps in the fabric or the extra tension.

Cut your ribbons for the "taggie" part of the blanket.  For this design, I am adding the ribbons along where the giraffe's mane would be, giving it more of a functional design element instead of just adding ribbon along where ever. 

Pin your ribbons in between the fabric.  Here I would like to point out that I did it incorrectly in this picture.  I always have a hard time remembering to not put the ribbons right side together.  This will have your ribbon be wrong side out.  Your ribbon should be right sides out, towards the fabric.  I had to rip out this seam and sew it again for this project.

Sew around the shape with the minky fabric on top.  I sew with the minky on top because I can control the sliding and shifting easier from this angle.

Sew all the way around - don't forget to leave an opening to turn the fabric!

Cut around the seams.

Don't forget to clip around the corners for a more professional look.

Turn right side out and pin the opening closed.  You could stop after stitching up the opening, but I like to add some more dimension by top stitching around.

I put a pink thread in the bobbin and a white thread through the top to have two different colors while sewing.  I did this because I do want to give dimension with the top stitching, but I also want the thread to blend in. 

Top stitch around, again keeping the minky fabric on top.

The completed project.  I cute, original  comfort toy for a baby.  This project is easy and fairly quick - I made this one in only half an hour.

Here is the giraffe from the other side.