Fall 09 Fabric Tags

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Designer: Stacey Kingman 

I think autumn is my favorite time of year. It’s definitely may favorite season to bake and make crafts for, and  I’ve made some special stitched tags for fall baking projects or Halloween surprises. Each one is made from fabric and has a vintage element – old dictionary paper or part of an old cutter quilt – as well as lots of hand and machine stitching and a bit of paper crafty-ness. These tags aren’t the quick kind that I can whip up on my way out the door, but now that I have them designed, reproducing them won’t take too long and will be well worth the effort. So, mix up some pumpkin bread and sew on some tags while it’s baking!

Difficulty rating

Instructions (Print version)

Homemade Pumpkin Bread tag:
1. Use a clear ruler and rotary cutter to cut brown fabric to 10” X 3 ½”. Fold in half, iron to crease. Cut solid cardstock to 3 ½” X 2 ½”. Place inside folded fabric and adhere with tape runner. (This cardstock will not show in the finished tag, but it will give the tag some stability.)
2. Use your rotary cutter to cut the top corners of the tag.
3. Stitch around the tag in a contrasting thread. Only one time around is necessary, but I stitched two distinct rows to add to the overall design.
4. Cut dictionary page to 2 ¾” X 2 ½”. Mount three pumpkins on an acrylic block and stamp on this piece. You should get three rows, with the bottom one going off the page. Adhere to the front of the tag. Stitch around this part several times, alternating between a straight stitch and a zigzag.
5. Cut a piece of ribbon to 6” in length. Place the ribbon under the tag and fold around to the front. Stitch ends in place with buttons and embroidery thread. Notch ends as shown.
6. Punch a scalloped oval from orange cardstock. Punch a ¼” circle in the left end. Apply rub-on message.

7. Use the rotary cutter to make a 1” slit in the top of the tag ½” from the top. Cut a piece of fabric 7” long by 2 ½” wide and place it through the slit. Tie scalloped oval tag through the knot and make a bow with the hemp string.

Autumn Blessings tag:
1. Use a clear ruler and rotary cutter to cut yellow fabric to 10” X 3”. Fold in half, iron to crease.
2. Cut solid cardstock to 3 ½” X 2 ½”. Place inside folded fabric and adhere with tape runner. (This cardstock will not show in the finished tag, but it will give the tag some stability.)
3. Zigzag stitch a border around the tag in a contrasting thread. Cut across the top of the tag with pinking shears.
4. Cut a piece of old quilt or fabric to fit inside the stitched rectangle. This one is 3 ½” X 2 ¼”, but sizes will vary, depending on the size of the stitched border. Stitch around this piece with a straight stitch.
5. Cut a  5” piece of wide ribbon and attach to the top of the tag with a button.

6. Punch an oval from orange cardstock to make a pumpkin. Apply rub-on sentiment, adhere oval to tag using Tool Taxi glue. Cut a stem from brown fabric or felt and tie a loose bow around it with the hemp string (this uses about 8” of hemp string), adhere. Punch a leaf with the Mint Condition Medium squeeze punch. Fold in half on one end only, adhere the folded part near the pumpkin.

Trick or Treat tag:
1. Cut brown fabric to 5” X 4 ½”. Fold in half so that the crease is 4 ½” long, iron to crease.
2. Cut solid cardstock to 3 ¾” X 2”. Place inside folded fabric and adhere with tape runner. (This cardstock will not show in the finished tag, but it will give the tag some stability.)
3. Stitch a border around the tag on three sides in a contrasting thread. Do not stitch on the folded side. Cut around the tag on three sides with pinking shears.

4. Cut dictionary page to 1 ¾” X 3 ¾”. Adhere inside stitched border. Use the seam ripper from the 12-in-1 Sewing Multi Tool to pierce holes around this piece. Alternate a straight line with some X’s for variety. Hand stitch with embroidery thread. To pierce holes for and “X”, just pierce two holes next to each other instead of one. Make sure to do it twice because each “X” need four holes.

5. Stamp witch on patterned paper, cut out, adhere to tag front. Stamp the image again on orange and red patterned paper. Cut out shoes and collar from the red and dress stripes from the orange, adhere to tag. Cut out hat from the red, cover with glue (use the liquid glue from the Tool Taxi) and cover with glitter. Adhere hat with Adhesive Foam. Apply gem. Staple the green piece.

6. Cut orange burlap to 6” X 2 ¾”. Stitch tag onto the burlap by going over the existing machine stitching again. Leave 1” at the bottom.
7. Stamp “trick or treat” on solid cardstock, adhere to burlap by stitching an “X” on each side.
8. Sew black buttons at the top corners of the tag, tie 5” hemp string to create hanger for tag.

Tips:
1. When crafting with pages from old books, always check the text for odd words that might be inappropriate or offensive. Obviously, this is a judgment call. For example, the Homemade Pumpkin Bread tag uses a page from the “M” section of my old dictionary. The first piece I cut had the word “murder” defined on it. That was not a word I wanted on my tag so I cut another piece.
2. Use bobbin thread that matches the fabric on your tag if you don’t want visible stitching on the back.
3. Place cardstock, chipboard, or batting inside the tag before sewing it closed for added stability.
4. Attach the “To:/From:” information on a removable tag so the recipient can use the tag again. I attached the words “Homemade Pumpkin Bread” separately on my tag so the tag could be reused as a bookmark or on another gift.
5. When creating fabric tags, iron any folds to make the fabric easier to work with.
6. When piercing holes in paper, place the piece over a mouse pad to give the sharp point some depth for piercing.
7. When using vintage textiles, keep the other crafty details minimal so the beauty of the fabric can be the main focus. On my Autumn Blessings tag, I used a very old quilt piece. I love how I can see the wear from years of use in the fabric, so I kept my pumpkin simple so the hand quilted stitches and flour sack fabric can be appreciated.

Supplies:
Fiskars : 12-97937097 45 mm Comfort Grip Rotary Cutter
Fiskars : 12-83727097 24 Inch x 36 Inch Mat
Fiskars : 12-87287097 3.5 x 18.5 Acrylic Ruler
Fiskars : 12-59777097 12-in-1 Sewing Multi-Tool
Fiskars : 12-88817097 Tool Taxi
Fiskars : 12-25967097 Foam Dots
Fiskars : 12-73067097 Mint Condition – Medium Squeeze Punch
Fiskars : 01-003977 Scalloped Punch : Cameo Appearance – Extra Large
Fiskars : 12-74167097 Oval ‘n Oval Again – Extra Large Squeeze Punch
Fiskars : 01-000068 Stamp Block Set
Fiskars : 12-99027097 Desktop Rotary Trimmer
Fiskars : 12-33897097 Tape Runner
Fiskars : 94767097 Comfort Grip™ Micro-Tip® Scissors
Fiskars : 01-003510 High Density Ink – Fresh Squeezed
Fiskars : 23527097 Hand Punch – ¼” Circle
Fiskars : 94457097 Pinking Shears
Other – fabric, thread, solid cardstock, patterned paper and clear stamps (Heidi Grace Designs), buttons, ink, ribbon, rub-ons (7 Gypsies, Melissa Frances), hemp string, embroidery thread