Today’s contributor is Jill from Snugglebug University. All posts written by Jill for Make It and Love It can be found HERE.
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Hi, it’s Jill from Snugglebug University. Today, I’m so excited to share my latest project – personalized luggage tags!
‘Tis the season for travel! Seeing family and loved ones during the Holidays is one of my favorite parts of the season. Today’s personalized luggage tags DIY is a simple project, perfect for any trips you are planning during the next few weeks! Not traveling this year? These personalized luggage tags make great stocking-stuffers for everyone on your list.
For me personally, though, we needed luggage tags because we have a big trip planned! (Actually, by the time this post goes live we’ll actually have returned from our trip!) My husband grew up in Argentina, so we’ll be making the trip to visit family, show our kids where Daddy grew up, and explore Buenos Aires and Patagonia! It’s the first time we’ve ever traveled internationally with our kids, and truthfully, I’m a little bit nervous about so much plane time. We are all excited, though!
My kids are also really excited about being in charge of their own suitcase, so I thought it would be fun to give them each their own personalized luggage tag.
In reality, my kids will be using carry-on suitcases, but when they saw these tags, they ran to get their little suitcase that I made them, filled them with toys, and then added these tag. We might have a few details to work out before our trip about what they can and cannot bring…
When my kids asked for animal shapes, I first thought that I’d make different shaped tags, but then I realized that it would be fun to actually cut out the shapes from the tag itself. They asked for a cat and a bird, but I think so many shapes would be cute. An elephant, perhaps? Or what about a frog?
I also made a few tags with the first letter of my kids’ names. I love how you could use fun fabrics behind each of the letters! You can also use heavyweight fabric such as duck cloth (like I did for the “E” tag) or even cut up an old pair of jeans. (I love the idea of a denim tag with a floral letter in the middle!)
My machine sometimes struggles sewing with vinyl, which is what I made the two animal tags from. For these, I actually sewed the tags entirely by hand, no sewing machine needed! So if you’re worried about sewing with vinyl for this project, don’t be!
The back of the tag holds a laminated address card. If you’d like, you can add a piece of clear vinyl to the back instead of laminating your address card.
This is such a simple project! It comes together super quickly. I’d love to see what versions you come up with!
The really nice thing about using vinyl or leather for the exterior of the tag is that it won’t fray. That means that you can just cut out the shapes from the vinyl, and there is no need to sew the edges.
However, if you’d like to use duck cloth, denim, or some other heavier weight fabric, you’ll probably want to add fusible interfacing. Fuse fusible interfacing to the back side of the front of the luggage tag.
Remove the paper backing, and then trace on the design that you like, if you haven’t done so already. In my case, I printed out a letter, cut it out, and then traced it onto the front of my luggage tag.
I used a sharp blade to start to cut out the “E” and then I used some sharp scissors to cur the rest of the way around.
Now place your lining piece directly behind the front piece. Fuse to the lining piece, and then use your sewing machine to sew around the edges of the E. For the vinyl tags (shown below), I skipped this step and did not attach the lining piece to the vinyl exterior.
You can cut out your design immediately. I embroidered the cat’s face on to the lining piece and used a crayon to draw on the cheeks on and the ears.
Next, you need to sew the layers together. Layer as shown below. The “right” side of the vinyl pieces should be facing outward. There’s no turning required here!
Use embroidery floss and a running stitch to begin to attach the layers together. Sew through all the layers, except at the top, where you only need to sew through the top three. This leaves a spot to slip in the back contact card.
Alternatively, if you aren’t worried about being able to take the cards in and out, you can just slip in the contact card between the layers and sew all around all the edges.
Either way, once you are done sewing the layers together, you’ll need to take a sharp blade and cut a slit to slide the ribbon in. If you are using a fabric that is more lightweight, a good alternative to a slit would be to make a buttonhole to insert the ribbon through.
That’s it! I can’t wait to see the what wonderful personalized luggage tags you create!
Happy sewing everyone!
–Jill
You can follow Jill on her blog (snugglebuguniversity.com), on instagram, on pinterest, and on facebook.
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Looking for more inspiration to make your travels even easier?
Check out some of these great ideas:
Travel Jewelry Clutch Tutorial
Travel-Sized Pillowcase (with Minky edge)
37 Must-Try Ideas for TRAVELING WITH KIDS!!
Hi, I’m Ashley—the DIY-enthusiast behind this crazy blog!
