Thursday, October 20, 2011

Making floss tags

Mouse asked a good question about how I make my floss tags so I thought I'd share here for anyone else who might be curious.

My very first floss tag

The first tag I made (seen here) I used iron on interfacing behind the stitched part and another piece of interfacing the same size on the backing fabric.  Then I stitched it on three sides with the sewing machine, after turning it right side out I slip stitched the opening closed, and gave it a good press.  It turned out pretty good. 

My first bee (second ever floss tag)

I did the same thing for this one.  Both of these turned out nicely but I wanted my next one to feel stiffer, more tag-like and less floppy.

Floss tag made by Staci

The method I used for the second bee tag was actually from Staci's tutorial over at Snippets and Stash.   I was lucky enough to be partnered with Staci in an exchange. She made me the floss tag above.

My second bee

So this time around I used her method and I liked the stiffness of the finished tag.  The difference was I used interfacing, fusible web and a piece of batting this time around.  These additions really did make a difference and acheived the stiffness I wanted.  This time I hand stitched the two sides together using a ladder stitch instead of using the sewing machine.

Also, I will say that I'm in love with my Crop-A-Dile for making the holes and setting the grommets.   You don't have to have one of these tools to make a floss tag but I already had one and it worked like a charm! 

I would say the method you use is a personal preference thing.  You may pass out at the thought of using glue or fusible anything near your stitching.  That's cool, do what you feel comfortable doing.  This is what I'm comfortable doing and it acheived the feel I was personally looking for.

Here are a couple more tutorials I found on a quick Google search.  Anita's over at Anita Little Stitches  and Vonna's over at The Twisted Stitcher.  I'd say try a couple methods and see what works for you.

I hope this helped answer any questions and hopefully inspired you to give it a go yourself.

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher

12 comments:

Heather said...

Thank you for sharing your tutorial, I have a couple of pieces stitched that are too small for much (thanks to my scissor happy daughter!) so I will give this a go.

Margaret said...

Cool! Maybe one day I'll try this. But for now I'm just enjoying looking at your floss tags again. lol! (I put that grommet thingie on my Amazon wish list. :D )

Mouse said...

ooo thanks :) fame again heheheh .. will have a go at making another after Halloween :0 love mouse xxx

Laura said...

YOU HAVE TOTALLY INSPIRED ME!!!! I am going for a weekend to visit my friend in November....and we are going to make these! Your post is fabulous and gives me something exciting to daydream about while at work today!!!!! I am so excited!!! Thanks!!!

Laura said...

Question: Are there any any special sizes of designs to stitch for floss tags???

The Inspired Stitcher said...

I replied privately to Laura but thought others might want to know too.

I've seen lots of different designs used for floss tags. If you Google "floss tag" and click images, you will get tons of ideas.

Personally, I like to keep the design about the size of something you'd find on a keychain.

I don't think there's really any set size though. That's the fun part! You can use part of a design or whatever strikes your fancy!

The Inspired Stitcher said...

I had another thought to share, if you think you might want to get a Crop-A-Dial, I got mine at JoAnn's with their 50% off coupon. Just thought I'd throw that out there too.

ROSELLA 69 said...

SONO TUTTI MOLTO CARINI E SIMPATICI,SEI STATA MOLTO BRAVA,ROSELLA,SONO UNA'AMICA DI JENNY,VORREI DIVENTARE UNA TUA'AMICA ITALIANA CIAO.

Jenny said...

This is definitely on the looong list of things to do one of these days... LOL

Lelia said...

Your floss tags are awesome!!!

Siobhán said...

Thanks for the tutorials! I am hopeless at finishing--every bit of instruction helps. The tags are all lovely!

JennyPennyPoppy said...

Such lovely tags! Thank you for the links to the tutorials.