Sock monkey lovey

My youngest son has a lovey he can’t do without. He takes it everywhere. jumps around with it when he’s happy, and snuggles it when he’s not. Unfortunately for me, it’s a full-sized crib quilt, so it’s constantly dragging around getting dirty. Did I mention my son flips out when we put his beloved blankie in the washing machine? Add drying time in there and it’s a guaranteed hour and a half of crying and begging. That’d be him crying and me begging him to stop. I’m kidding. The poor kid just wants his blankie back.
Anyway, one of my son’s playmates also has a lovey. A nice small cuddle blanket. So when this friend got a new baby brother, I thought it would be nice to make another little cuddle blanket as a Christmas Valentine’s day gift.

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The idea for the this project comes from just another day in paradise. Larissa provides a template for the sock monkey applique as well as a great tutorial on how to put together the project. I changed things up a just a little, putting ribbon tags only on two sides, and, on the other side, adding a Velcro handle to hold a soother or teething toy.

I don’t use cuddle fabric too often, mostly because it’s really expensive around here (a half metre, which is enough for two cuddle blankets, cost $15), but it’s also slippery, stretchy stuff. I pinned the heck out of this time, and it actually behaved fairly well this time around. Despite it’s finicky personality, cuddle fabric is oh-so-soft and touchable. It’s worth the trouble and extra pinning required. I’m hoping to make another lovey with the leftover fabric and use it’s softness to charm my baby boy into wanting to hang onto it instead of his blankie. A girl can hope.

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