Cloth Gift Tags

I made cloth tags to go with the reusable cloth gift bags.  Initially, I used paper ones, but they had a habit of disappearing, tearing, and getting crunched up.  I figured that I could take a little time this year to make some nice ones that might last a little longer.

Materials:

Makes about 18 tags.

  • 2 quarter yards of cotton Fabric – one for the backing, and another less busy print for the lettering
  • Embroidery Floss
  • Embroidery Needle
  • Embroidery Hoop
  • Scissors
  • Ruler
  • Fabric Marker or Pencil
  • Pins
  • Iron with Ironing Board
  • Sewing Machine and matching Thread
  • 24 Ribbons – about 5″- 7″ long

Directions:

  1. Iron out the fabric so that it lies flat.
  2. Use a fabric marker and ruler to draw a grid on the right-side of the lettering fabric.  The grid should be about 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″.
  3. Draw a matching grid on the wrong-side (backside) of the backing fabric.
  4. Embroider initials in the center of each block of the lettering fabric.  There should be about 18 blocks and, therefore, 18 initials.
  5. Iron out the lettering fabric.
  6. Place the lettering fabric on a flat surface facing right-side up.
  7. Place the backing fabric on top of the letting fabric wrong-side up.  The grid should be visible, and match the grid on the lettering fabric below.
  8. Pin the fabrics together.
  9. Sew along the vertical (not the horizontal) lines using the grid lines as a guide.  You should sew 1/4″ away from the grid lines and the fabric edges.  Make sure you sew on both sides of the grid line if there are tags on each side of the line.
  10. Cut the tags out – cutting along the grid lines.
  11. Keep the tags inside-out, and tuck a folded ribbon inside each tag.  Pin the ribbon ends to the top of each tag.
  12. Sew the across the top of each tag.  Make sure that the ribbon is held in place, and that only the ribbon ends are sewn into place.
  13. Sew across the bottom leaving 1/2″ free so that you can flip the fabric right-side out.  Make sure to avoid sewing the tucked in ribbon.
  14. Flip the fabric right-side out, and sew the 1/2″ hole closed.  You can do this with a needle and thread for a nicer finish, or if you want to cut a few corners, you can proceed to do this on the machine.

Tips:

  • Keep yourself organized: make sure you are always aware of which side (inside/outside, wrong-side/right-side, invisible side/visible side) you are working on.
  • Treat your letting fabric as a piece of paper with a clear top, bottom, right, and left side.
  • Use the ribbon and a wooden dowel (a pen or pencil will also work) to flip your tags right-side out.

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