In this week's edition of Tagline...

Welcome to today’s edition of Tagline!

I’m Teri of wagswag_sews (ig).  I’m a NICU nurse of 35 years by day and a sewist whenever I can fit it in!  Many of you know my name from the sewing groups and I’m pretty sure that’s how Kelsey found me as well.  Where do I fit in to all of this? It all started with talk behind the scenes of her new company and ideas of growing the business and doing strikes and now look at her go!!

This week I’m going to focus on some tag basics for sewing them onto your project.  I like to do most of my tags with a clean finish so let’s start there.

Clean finish is when I start with a length of thread at the beginning of the tag. No backstitching. Sew the tag on and carefully pull it out from the machine leaving another thread tail.  Turn it to the back and pull up on the bobbin thread until you see the front thread as a little loop.  Use a pin to pull that front thread loop to the back to tie it off and secure your tag. The front is left with a really nice clean finish!

First step is the fun step…. Choose a tag from all the cute tags available!  If you’re like me this is also the hardest part!! So. Many. Cute. Tags!!

For all tag positioning, a hem ruler comes in very handy.  This helps to keep the bottom of the tag even with the bottom of the garment and also centered if that’s your desire.

I’ve heard of using a glue stick to hold a leatherette tag in place, but I can’t confirm that method as I simply hold mine in place as I sew it on.

Cotton tags give you an option.  You can sew all around the tag or secure it only on the two folded edges.  It’s all personal choice.  For compliance reasons/selling however, I would sew all 4 sides to prevent any little fingers getting caught up in the tag.  Just to be safe.

Side seam tags are a great easy detail to any garment.  Make sure the tag is facing up in the right direction and I like to clip the tag in place.  Line up your side seam and sew it in. If you’re like me, you’ll double check the tag placement once you’ve clipped it in place

Fold over tags can be the tricky ones! I swear sometimes I should hand baste these in place lol. If you’ve ever noticed that I have 2 rows of stitching on a tag, it’s because my first stitches didn’t catch the back of the tag! Sometimes I’m simply to lazy to take it off and redo it.

Really, they aren’t that hard. Just take your time to line them up so that your stitches catch the back of the tag.

For circle or shaped tags like the hiking boot I do a lot of hand wheeling and go slowly. Take your time and follow the edge outline.   

So there you have it. Some very basic tips for sewing your tags and labels on. Hopefully you didn’t fall asleep with my very first ever blog post.  I’ll wake you up with the news of so many cute upcoming releases coming your way!  It just keeps getting better and better.

One last Teri’s top tip: if you aren’t satisfied with your stitching on a tag, go around again and be messy on purpose as a design element!!

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