Sew a Gift Tag: a Quick and Easy Scrap-Buster

I used my BERNINA 590 to sew a gift tag using scraps of fabric I had on hand. I added this cute gift tag to my Santa Sack. Visit this BERNINA Blog post here for a free tutorial to create your own magical Santa Sack for holiday gift-giving.

This is a fantastic scrap-busting sewing project. It is a quick and easy project that will add pizzazz to your holiday gift-giving this season.

Materials Needed:

Sewing Machine with Embroidery Module BERNINA 590
Embroidery hoop for machine
Cutting mat, rotary cutter and ruler
Pinking Shears
Iron for applying interfacing
Chalk or erasable ink for marking stitching lines
Woven fusible interfacing – I used Pellon SF101
Coordinating Sewing and Embroidery Thread
Sticky stabilizer for embroidery – I used OESD Sticky Back Tearaway Stabilizer.
Fabric: a fat quarter or scraps of cotton quilting fabric. You will need 2 pieces approximately 4’x6′ for each tag that you make. Here are some shops with international shipping that carry a variety of options:
Metal eyelet or small grommet
Small piece of string, cord or similar to hang or attach your tag

Preparing your fabric:

Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of your piece of fabric.

Take your fabric and cut a rectangle approximately 4′ x 6′. It doesn’t need to be exact because you will be cutting your gift tag down to size. Cut a piece of fusible interfacing slightly smaller than your fabric piece. Fuse it to the wrong side of your fabric with an iron, following the interfacing manufacturer’s instructions.

Embroider your gift tag:

Attach the embroidery unit to your machine. I like to take out the manual and go step by step so I don’t forget any important bits.

If you are new to embroidery, here is an article to give you some ideas to get you started. https://blog.bernina.com/en/2023/03/embroidery-with-a-sewing-machine/

Get your stabilizer and measure out approximately 2” bigger than your hoop. Secure the stabilizer in the embroidery hoop. When you use sticky stabilizer you can “float” your project on top of it. This means that you don’t have to “hoop” your fabric and you can use small scraps of fabric in a larger hoop. Remove the backing from the stabilizer and attach your interfaced 4’x6′ piece of fabric to it.

Float the small piece of fabric in the hoop with a sticky stabilizer.

Select an embroidery font from your BERNINA embroidery machine and type in the name you wish for your tag. This tag is for our family dog so he can have his own presents under the tree this year.

Stitch out your design onto the tag.

Finish your gift tag:

Remove the hoop from the embroidery module and carefully remove your stitched project. You will then take your second piece of woven fabric and pin or clip the two pieces, wrong sides together.

With your ruler, measure out a rectangular shape approximately 3′ x 5′. Mark onto the fabric face with erasable chalk or ink, with the embroidered name. Using a straight stitch on your sewing machine, stitch the two fabric pieces together, inside of the chalk lines you just created.

Use chalk to create a rectangular outline of your tag.

Align the presser foot with the chalk lines for nice, straight stitching.

Completed stitching within the chalked lines.

Use pinking shears and trim your tag along the chalk lines that you made. This will be close to the stitching line, without cutting through it. If your fabric is non-fraying, use can use regular scissors or a rotary cutter for this step.

Attach an eyelet or small grommet at the top, or use your sewing machine eyelet stitch option. Add a string or cord to attach it to a gift or your tree.