Making a quilt is a labor of love and it deserves to be finished with a cute tag! I'm going to show you how I add tags to my quilts as I bind them.
What you'll need:
- A quilt that is ready for binding
- A fun tag (or two or three!)
- Binding
Many quilt shops carry a variety of adorable tags. My favorites are from Sarah Hearts. I order my personalized tags from Ever Emblem. I prefer tags that are folded over, like the ones in this tutorial.
Start by choosing which tag(s) you want to use. I typically use two tags to mark the most important information: a personalized tag saying I'm the maker and a tag with the year. Every now and then, I'll include a third tag just for fun.
Once you pick a tag, fold it in half and line up the raw edges with the raw edge of the back of the quilt. Clip it in place.
Baste the tag to the back of the quilt using a 1/8" seam and a larger stitch length (around 3.5mm).
Next, attach the first side of the binding as usual. I prefer to sew my binding to the back of my quilt and then flip it over and machine stitch it to the front. However, if you sew your binding to the front first, that is totally fine. Just be mindful as you stitch over the tags that they don't get folded under and stitched down wonky.
Once one side of the binding is attached to the quilt, put a clip on the binding to the left and right sides of the tags. This is super important because when you flip the quilt over to topstitch the binding, the tags will be on the bottom. The clips help you remember that the tags are there.
Whenever I don't put a clip to mark where the tags are, I get in the zone while topstitching and end up sewing right over those tags, which is exactly what we don't want! See the photo below? We want to avoid having our stitches cover our tag!
Next, begin topstitching the binding as usual. Stop when you reach the clip. Remove the clip and pull the tags from the underside of the quilt and hold them to the right. Make sure the quilt and binding stay flat and aligned correctly, but hold the tags out of the way.
Slowly stitch the binding down, keeping the tags pulled back. This way, the stitches do not go through the tags. Once you pass this spot on the quilt, the tags will lay over those stitches. Continue to finish binding the quilt as you normally would.
That's all it takes! Now, the tags hang free and the pretty designs on them are not covered by stitches!
The quilt pattern in this tutorial is my Peppermint Presents pattern! It will be releasing on August 5th alongside the new Art Gallery Fabrics collection, Christmas in Color.
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