Crinkle Tag Toy

Being a fabulous sewer has always been a dream of mine. My mom and sister have become expert sewers, but I am still very much a novice. We all have to start somewhere right? I have, so far, managed to grasp the basic functions of the machine, and have mastered straight lines. When project hunting, I still gravitate towards items that are square or rectangular in shape, and don't involve a lot of fancy sewing methods. I recently came across a tutorial for a crinkle tag toy and thought, hey, this I can do! Supposedly, tag blankets have been around for a while...they are simply fabric with ribbon looped in various spots around the boarder and, babies love to chew on them. Babies go crazy over crinkle material/stuffing (whatever it is) too. They love the sound, and I'm guessing the weird texture it gives. Put tags and crinkle together and you have got a pretty awesome toy! This project is really simple, all you need is a few cute, coordinating fabric scraps, ribbon scraps, and you can make this precious little toy too!

Gather materials. You do not have to make the toy quilt-style as I did, you can use just one piece of fabric. But, I think all of the different patterns add interest and makes it look really fun.

Cut nine pieces of fabric, each 3.5" by 4.5". If you want to use some fabric twice, cut 4" by 7" rectangles, then simple cut them in half.

Experiment with a few pieces of rick rack, and sew them onto the fabric rectangles.

Sew the rectangles together with right sides facing; press open.

Then sew the rows together, right sides facing; press open.

Now, pin on your ribbon loops. Get creative and have fun placing them around the boarder!

Sew the ribbons in place and remove the pins.

Now for the crunchy part! Find something around your house that you don't need and cut it up. I used a  package that held dental picks...but you can really use anything...a wipes case would work well. Don't worry if your wrapper is smaller than your fabric, it will crunch just fine! I wanted the toy to be a little plush, so I took a piece of felt, and sewed the crunchy wrapper to it.

Pin the felt fabric to back fabric and sew again.

If you don't want your toy to be super crunchy and loud, you could also cut strips, circles, or random patches to attach to the felt.

Put the right sides together, and sew around leaving about a 6" opening on the side. Clip the corners and trim up the trimmings. Flip her inside out, and secure the opening.

Press flat, and do a finishing top seam all around the boarder. You're all done! Now go find yourself a baby to give this too, or wait (patiently) like me for yours to finish cooking :)