In my very first Craft Nectar post I wrote about making cloth drawstring bags with personalized tags for kids’ birthday parties. While making another one for a birthday party this weekend I thought I’d document the making of the personalized tag in case you wanted to make one for your bag.

[Note: You could print out the name on photo transfer fabric or fabric fused to freezer paper but I like the handwritten look, which was why I opt for tracing.]

Here’s what you’ll need:

3”x4” piece of Fast2Fuse or rigid stabilizer
4”x5” piece of fabric for the back
3 ½”x4 ½” piece of white fabric
4 strips of frame fabric 1” wide by 4” long
bias tape or ribbon to attach the tag to your bag
a printout of the name with the name approximately 2” wide
a fabric pen (I used Sakura Pigma Micro .05)
tape
pins
glue

1. If you’re using bias tape, sew the open edge closed.

2. Tape the name printout on a window with good light behind it.

3. Center the fabric on the name and tape it onto the printout.

4. Using the fabric pen, trace the name onto the fabric.

5. Sew the frame strips around the fabric with the name on it.
6. Trim and iron the seams open.

7. Iron a scant ½” fold all the way around the perimeter of the backing fabric.
8. Open the ironed edges and place the stabilizer on the wrong side of the fabric as shown in the photo.
9. Miter the edges as shown in the photo and lightly glue closed.

10. Iron a scant ½” fold of the name side of the tag.

11. Pin wrong sides together inserting the raw edges of the bias tape along the center of the left edge of the tag as shown in the photo.

12. Sew around the perimeter of the tag as close to the edge as you can imagine, making sure that the bias tape is sewn securely.

13. Stitch in the seam between the white fabric and the frame fabric to create a crisp frame.