Friday, July 31, 2009

My First REAL Tutorial - Luggage Tag!

Okay, so this is my first tutorial AND my first luggage tag, so excuse the sloppy product. I've learned a few things that I will pass on and I'm confident my next luggage tag will turn out much better. Okay, on with it!

You will need:

3 pieces of fabric-
-8 in x 2 in
-13 in x 4 in
-5.5 in x 4 in
single sided fusible web - 8 in x 1 in
double sided fusible web - 12 in x 3 in
cardstock or thin cardboard - 6 in x 3 in
vinyl - 4.25 in x 2.75 in
button




Iron all three pieces of fabric to make them easier to work with. Then center your 8" x 1" single-sided fusible web on top of the WRONG side of your 8" x 2" piece of fabric. Iron.
Now, this may sound really weird but trust me... you need a glue stick to make life easier. :) Run your glue stick across your fusible web.
Fold each side into the middle, the glue will hold it, and iron it.
Fold in half again and iron.
Sew up both sides of your strip close to the edges.

Now, cut the corners of your cardstock so that it turns into a tag shape.
Iron your 12' x 3" piece of double-sided fusible web to the WRONG side of your 13" x 4" piece of fabric.
Peel off paper backing and center your trimmed cardstock off to one side.
Run your glue stick along the edges of the cardstock. Fold the edges of your fabric over.
Swipe glue onto the folded edges of the fabric.
Fold strip in half width-wise. Tuck in all corners EXCEPT for the top of one side. See pic for clarification. :)
Insert one end of the strip you made earlier, fold the remaining edge of the tag over and sew. Phew!
Now, sew a buttonhole at the top. Make sure it is big enough for the button, but not too big. You want the button to fit snugly so that it can't be pulled out.
Next, on the WRONG sides of your 5.5" x 4" piece of fabric, trace or draw a 3.5" x 2" rectangle.

Then, draw another rectangle 1/4" SMALLER on all sides. Cut out this smaller rectangle, then cut diagonally from the small rectangle corners to the bigger rectangle corners. ***REVISION: To make life easier, make a cardstock window that measures about 4.5" x 3" with a 3.5" x 2" cutout and wrap this fabric window around it for sturdiness. your tag will look better too.


Glue edges of window and fold them up. Swipe with glue again. Place your vinyl on top of this.

Sew around edges of window. If vinyl sticks to your presser foot and makes your life difficult, put a piece of tissue paper on top of it and sew. Just pull tissue off after sewing.
Now, I will try to be as clear as possible here because I didn't document this part very well with pictures. Fold edges over the vinyl up to the edges of the window and glue. Sew ONE of the short sides of the rectangle. This will be the side that is next to the buttonhole on the tag. Leave other sides unsewn until the next step.

Line up window piece on the body of the tag
and sew around the TWO long sides and the ONE short side (this should be the bottom of the tag). Leave the top edge of the window open! Sew a button to the back side of your strip. Fold back and button. VOILA!

I hope this was clear. If you have any questions feel free to contact me and I will help out however I can. :) Have fun!

This was featured on Poppies at Play.

7 comments:

  1. I just have an ugly PADI luggage tag attached to my luggage. This is such a great tutorial! I think I'll need to make one of these!

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  2. It was ton of fun! Upon making another, i have added a slight revision to make a prettier end product. Have fun and show me pictures if you make one!

    P.S. Do you SCUBA (wondering about the PADI tag) ? My husband and I both do!

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  3. Wow...that looks really professional!! I love how you used a glue stick. I was thinking as I was reading your post that I could probably use a glue stick with lots of my sewing projects. That was a great tutorial...I need lots of pics when it comes to sewing, so thanks!

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  4. I love this! Do you mind if I feature it?

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  5. Great! I need to make one! SO WORTH IT!

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  6. Feature away! Thank you!

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  7. Great tute - especially for your first!!! I am featuring it at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com. Grab my "featured" button

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