Luggage Tag Travel Memory

What could be more personal than turning one's travel photo into a luggage tag? Here is how I made tags for each of my travel companions on a recent trip to Italy.

This is what you will need:

White fabric for printing photo, (I used a mid-weight muslin)

Freezer paper

Painter tape

Fabric for back of tag and strap

Heavy weight fusible interfacing

Clear vinyl

Let's print the photo first.

Cut white fabric and freezer paper to 8 1/2 X 11-inches.

Iron freezer paper to fabric.

Place painter tape across one of the short edges of the freezer paper and fabric to provide an even, sturdy edge.

Put the freezer paper/fabric sheet into the printer so the print will appear on the fabric (not the freezer paper.)

Using a photo manipulation program like Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, open the photo you want to print.

Size to fit the project, in this case, 4X6-inches.

Print using a 300 dpi resolution.

Remove freezer paper/fabric from printer, remove painter tape and pull the fabric from the freezer paper.

Cut printed image from fabric.
Detailed information about printing on fabric can be found on Linda Matthews Creative Cloth website. 

Note, photos can be printed on printable fabric such as Jacquard Ink Jet Fabric.

Cut a 4X6" piece from the back fabric and from the interfacing 
Cut a 2 X 12-inch strip from the backing fabric

From the vinyl, cut a 2 1/2X4-inch piece

Following manufacturer’s instructions, iron interfacing to back fabric.

Use painter's tape, tape vinyl to the back fabric; place the tape about 1/8-inch from the edge of the vinyl. The tape will serve as a stitching guide. Stitch around three edges. (Yep, that is my little Singer Featherweight, Wilma, doing the stitching.)

I trimmed the edges after stitching to make it neater.

Fold the strap in half, press.

Open and press each side to the center

Fold the two long sides together to create a 14-inch strap.

Sew the two long sides together

Top-stitch the other long side.

Now you have the strap.

I pressed the strap after I took the photo

Fold the strap in half and baste to the short edge of the back. Keep in mind how the tag will hang on the luggage; stitch the strap to the end where the vinyl is open.

Whoops, forgot to photograph this step. (Obviously I am a novice at writing tutorials.) 

Stitch the two pieces, right sides together with the strap sandwiched in the middle, stitch around three edges,

leaving the end opposite the strap open for turning. 

Trim the seam to 1/8th inch, clip corners. (Important as Wilma does not do thickness well.)

Turn right sides out (Do you really need a photo of  the turning process?)  and press. (I place cardboard inside the tag before pressing to protect the vinyl.)

Fold the unstitched end under, press. 

Top stitched completely around the tag

Ouch, this is a pretty poor photo!

Back of the tag

I used Kraft-tex on this one; more on this amazing product in a future post.

There we have it, memories of

The Amalfi coast,

the villa where we stayed

and, of course gelato.

As one of my few attempts at writing a tutorial, let’s just say this is a work in progress.

I would be remiss if I didn’t give credit to my friend, Cathy, at Cathy Neri Quilts for lending me a tag to copy.

 

Look how neat her craftsmanship is; you can tell she is a professional.