How To: Fabric Scrap Luggage Tags

luggage tag title
Holiday time! Well that was the idea until a Super Typhoon Usagi decided to disrupt our travel plans! Our flights to Hong Kong were cancelled and we had to wait patiently for two days for new flights. So in the mean time whilst twiddling my thumbs, I decided that our luggage needed a special personal touch…custom Fabric Scrap Luggage Tags.

I believe in bright luggage, the kind you can spot from the terminal getting loaded onto the plane, or recognise straight away on the conveyor belt. It always baffles me when I see people checking luggage tags to see if that black suitcase is theirs.
But if you can’t afford bright colourful luggage, it’s super easy to make these colourful luggage tags and make your bags stand out from the crowd.

You will need:

Computer & Printer
Printer Paper
Scissors
Fabric scraps (or pretty paper scraps)
Clear PVC vinyl (I used a plastic table cloth off cut, the packaging sheets come in is great for this)
Glue stick
Hole puncher
Rubber bands or hair tie
Sewing machine
Teflon or walking foot (see sewing hints below)
General sewing supplies
luggage tag steps

How to:

1. On your computer make business card sized labels with your name and contact details. Most word processor programs have a business card template. Print and cut out.
2. Cut out fabric scraps to match the size of your paper labels.
3. Use a dab of glue to stick the fabric to the back of the paper (wrong sides together). Don’t use too much glue, it’s just so the pieces don’t move whilst you sew.
4. Cut 2 pieces of PVC vinyl about 0.5cm (1/4″) larger all around than your label.
5. Sandwich the label in between the 2 pieces of PVC vinyl and sew all the way around with long straight stitch. See sewing hints below. Trim excess and curve corners with scissors.
6. Punch a whole in the corner of tag.
7. Loop your rubber band through the hole. Any strong rubber band or hair tie will work great.

All done!

If you don’t have a sewing machine you could use a laminator from step 4 onwards for similar results.

Some hints on sewing with PVC – A walking foot or teflon foot helps the PVC stop sticking and jamming. Sew slowly, you may need to turn the flywheel by hand to start and finish. If you only have a normal sewing foot, try masking tape on the underside of the foot, or using a layer of tissue paper between PVC and foot, rip away when you are done.
luggage tag on suitcase
Now my bag certainly won’t be mistaken for someone elses. Not that there was ever a risk of that happening!

How do you make your luggage stand out?

3 Comments

  • A-M says:

    I always tie a brightly coloured stripy sock to my luggage, but these are much nicer!

  • jet says:

    smart idea, i have done something simulair when i was making my moving tags that the receiver good resuded by filling the backside of the little map i made.
    it was a succes.;-D
    but this one is a smart one as well;-D thank you for the s haring an d the tute

  • Iceni says:

    Great idea, but less work are the stick on, designs for walls. I get them at the Dollar Store. They have silly designs to sophisticated ones and they can be peeled off ,if you want a change.

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