I got an email a couple months ago from my cousin who lives in Germany. He and his wife moved there with their growing family almost a year ago.

When I got his email it surprised me. I don’t get emails from family members very often. My email is usually where all of the businesses I frequent send me their latest deals and it’s where SallieMae and Navient and FedLoan Servicing send me my bills. You can imagine how excited I was to see a friendly email.

He asked me if I could make a couple of security blankets with the tags around the edges. A few of their new friends in Germany were also having babies, and they really liked the security blanket my cousin had for his newborn.

After doing some research (Pinterest. I do most of my research on Pinterest.) I decided it was a doable task.

The first challenge came in picking out the material. I knew I wanted that silky, ultra soft stuff that I remembered people buying for baby blankets when I worked at JoAnn’s. The stuff that shed all over the cutting table and made a mess on my dark green apron. The last time I looked at that stuff I was in high school—and there wasn’t much of a selection.

How times have changed in six years! There were so many choices, I spent more time looking at the different designs than I ever anticipated! Since I knew I wanted these blankets to be full of texture and contrast, I went for a fun print on one side and the bubbled up kind on the back—it reminded me of the milk glasses my grandparents had in Iowa when I was a kid. I bought half a yard of each material—and I’m excited that since the bolts are 60 inches wide, I should be able to get three blankets out of each set.

After that came the ribbons. I didn’t know exactly what I would need, so I bought a lot with the idea that extra would be better than me running back into town for more. My approach to the ribbons was to, again, focus on texture. I picked out some that were woven and some that were silky, some wide and some narrow.

When I got home, I cut my fabric into 18-inch squares and set them aside.

Next I did the ribbons—I did 5-inch pieces, but I think on the next ones I do I’ll stick with 4-inch pieces.

I pinned the ribbons so both ends were on the rough edge of the printed (flat!) fabric. I did a quick stitch around that with a ¼-inch seam to hold them in place when I sewed the two squares together. It’s important to note that you should see the good side of the design with the ribbons on top so they’re on the outside when you’re done.

[Sidenote!] I have special labels that say: Handmade by Anna Katrina 2015. They worked great for these blankets. I bought them off Etsy from MommieMadeIt, you should check out her shop. She sells all kinds of labels, and I love them. Plus, this label blended in with the rest of the ribbons, which I really liked!

To sew the two squares together, put the two good sides together so the ribbons are inside—it’s like a really soft ribbon sandwich.

I sewed around all four sides of the fabric sandwich, careful to leave a hole to turn it inside out. I did a slightly bigger seam this time around so the stitches from the ¼-inch seam didn’t show. I trimmed the corners so they wouldn’t bulge as much.

When I turned the pouch inside out, it was like watching a brightly colored alien coming out of a kangaroo’s pouch. The ribbon loops did make it easy to get the seams flat.

After all of the seams were inside the pouch and the ribbons outside, I went around the edge with a zigzag stitch. I paid careful attention to the opening to make sure it was sealed with all of the raw edges inside.

The finished product? Two cute security blankets that went to Germany! It’s cool to think that something I’ve made is being used in a country halfway across the world. I find so much peace in creating things with my hands, and I’m glad that those creations can bring security and comfort to little kids.