Q: As a first time school mom this year, I am a little behind in labeling my daughter's jackets and such. Her school is very adamant about making sure everything is labeled. So far, I have skirted the issue by purchasing a luggage tag for her backpack, but I am facing a dilemma when it comes to her jackets/coats as the weather grows colder. I don't want to write her name on the tags for several reasons: (continued below)
Sent by Kodie
1) our last name is very long and won't fit on most tiny tags, 2) she has a younger sister that will hopefully be wearing these clothes in a few years, so writing her first name would do no good, 3) some of her things are from consignment or handed down and already have someone else's name on them, and 4) if the garment makes it through the next couple of years in decent shape, I would like to consign it or hand it down to someone else. I am considering getting sew in labels made with both of my girls' names on it (saving $$ and effort in the future) and am wondering if anyone has a recommendation for getting them made. I have already checked out Etsy and several other random websites, but would love to hear from other moms who have actually ordered and used labels like this.
Editor: Readers, can you share your favorite sources for sew-in labels? I remember seeing a cute, simple tutorial for making your own at Sew Mama Sew (pictured) which you might like to check out.
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I am wondering if the easiest solution would be to have a rubber stamp made with whatever names you want on it and you could stamp right onto bias tape from the fabric store with either fabric paint or permanent stamp pad ink (you will have to wash test this) and just sew the cut bias tape in with your sewing machine.
I made labels for my pre-schooler's stuff with twill tape, rubber stamps, and fabric ink I picked up at Joann Fabrics. I used the fusible web method from the Sew, Mama, Sew tutorial to attach them. Very fun!
I have bought labels from my sewing projects from Custom Couture Label Co. and they are amazing! http://www.customcouturelabelcompany.com/store/Default.asp
But, for the clothes I didn't make, I use Name Bubbles stick on tags and they work really well and are a great price!
http://www.namebubbles.com/labels/laundry-safe-labels.html
I use sterling name tape. They're iron-on and work great. Not sure about removing them later on when the clothes have been outgrown, but I intend to try. http://sterlingnametape.com/index.html
I just ordered custom woven clothing labels from this place:
http://www.namemaker.com/productcart/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=16
I finally gave in because I hate the iron-on ones -- they are either scratchy, or don't adhere properly (and I find that they aren't very attractive either).
I have had great service from Mabel's Labels and cannot recommend them enough. They have iron-on clothing labels that are washer and dryer safe as well as shoe labels, bag tags, sticky labels that are dishwasher safe, and even allergy alert labels and wristbands for when they're on a field trip or just out in a busy, crowded place.
I'm pretty sure I have some coupons from my last order if you're interested.
www.mabel.ca
I had bad luck w/ my Mabel's Labels but I know so many people for whom they worked great. Must be my lack of mad ironing skillz.
wow! thanks for all the great leads! i will try the JoAnn's stuff first (since this needs to be done ASAP!!) and see how that works. and if it doesn't, i have plenty of more great ideas. thanks!!
i remember this trick from a book in my childhood.
If you have name labels made, put your child's first name and last name on the label, but also give your child a "new" middle initial. That letter should be the first letter of the name of the second child. When you hand down the clothes, just cut off the first name and resew the label.
we used mini labels that stick onto tags. They stay on well in laundry, but can be removed easily when the child outgrows the stuff. I think I got mine from Mabel Labels
I would just print a sheet of names written on inkjet iron-on transfer paper, cut up, and iron on to bias tape.
Hello Kodie, I made tags for my daughter, its printed on paper, laminated and sewed on. It can be removed easily with a thread unpicker and not destroyed after washing.
There's a tutorial on my blog if you want to check it:
http://jotandscribble.wordpress.com/2010/01/29/school-labels-and-tags/