Embroidered Labels

Many years ago I asked a friend to digitize a little piece of clip art that I used on my business cards at the time so that I could stitch out labels for my handmade clothing.  My logo was a simple hanger embellished with a flower.  Back when I was doing some dressmaking for hire I used the business name Juliet, Couture and Bridal (JCB being my initials).  The first label I created looked something like this:

This was stitched on ribbon.  I went on to stitch the design out on various fabrics.  This was my favorite,

stitched on a pale grey and white checked linen.  I particularly liked using a patterned background.

Last week I realized I was out of pre-stitched labels and sat down at my machine to make some more.  For some reason, my old design was not speaking to me, and I decided it was time for a makeover of my label.  I still wanted to use a hanger design and found an appropriate one on the internet.  I'm currently loving the floss stitch designs I got from Jolson's Designs so I used one of those.  Once I got the design looking the way I wanted, I started concentrating on color and fabric choices.  I looked at my local fabric store for some light colored checked fabric like the one I used above, but didn't find anything in the color I was looking for.  They did have, however, a subtle paisley print cotton duck which I thought would work well.

I used colors similar to the designs here on my blog.  Here are the labels all stitched out and waiting to be cut.

and here is a completed label.

I particularly like how much depth and interest the print background adds.  I backed the fabric with a fusible tricot interfacing, cut the edges with pinking shears and then applied a thin line of Fray Block around the perimeter. 

While hunting through my closet for examples of my former labels, I was dismayed to discover how few of my garments actually have labels in them.  So, I'm hoping to do better this year and remember to sew labels into my creations.  I am also going to go back and "retro-fit" some of my older clothes with some of my new labels where possible.  After all, what's a designer original without its label?

Custom Stamps at Expressionery

A short while back I posted about the custom stamp I ordered from Experssionery.  Well, TODAY ONLY they are offering some of their stamps (and other products, too) for 55% off.  The stamps included in the sale are the Expressionery brand stamps only but there are several very cute ones that would be appropriate for labeling handmade items from your studio or the kitchen.  The sale ends at midnight tonight so get moving.