Raindrops on Roses, Whiskers on Kittens....My Favorite Things Part 2

Thinking about my favorite things brings to mind that song from the Sound of Music.  I don't quite have the same list of favorite things but do like the ones in the song too.  So I don't hurt your ears I will not sing it for you - I am definitely not known for my singing ability!

The first item I am going to show you this time is this pair of scissors by Elan.  I love them as they have about a 2" blade length but the scissors themselves are around 6 1/2" long.  The blades have a fine serrate edge that grips the fabric as you cut it so you can be very accurate with cutting and they have wonderful big finger holes.  My hands do not get cramped using these scissors.

Next are a pair of scissors by Havel I use at the machine.  They are small being a little under 3" long.  I wrote about them here on this blog post.  Love them, love them, love them!


I really like having the small pair of hemostats to use for sewing also.  I can grab a piece of thread and they lock to really hold it.  I have also been known to take them to the bathroom mirror to grab one of those pesky hairs that want to grow on my chiny chin, chin too.  They work better than any tweezers as they lock on the the hair, er..thread, so it can be pulled out.

Before I had this brass stiletto I used the point of a seam ripper for the same jobs.  I can hold the fabric and guide it under the presser foot with the stiletto and still see where I am stitching.  I use it to hold down things that I am pressing to avoid getting burned fingers too.
The next item I have used quite a bit lately is this Dritz Ezy-Hem Guage.  I just estimated where 1/4" was and pressed the ends over this to make them nice and straight when I was making the luggage tags.  There are markings on one side to press creases starting at 1/2" up to 4".  It is a thin piece of metal and works pretty slick to get sharp, straight pressed fabric.  I have had this tool since I was first married, back when I sewed clothing where it came in handy to press in hems.  I was surprised it was still being sold when I found it online.

Of course my most favorite tool is my Bernina sewing machine.  The one I have now is a 730 but owned a 150 before that (sold it to one of my sisters), and before that had a 930 which one of my daughters has now.  I love the stitch it makes, the quietness of the machine...could go on and on about why I love my machine.

I have used the 1/4" foot especially made for stitching 1/4" seams and it works OK but my favorite foot to use is the #20 foot.  This is an open toed applique foot I got to go on the 150 and kept it to use on this machine.  There is an open toed applique foot that is made for the 730 but the space is too wide since this machine can do 9 mm wide stitches and I don't feel it holds down  the fabric as well as this one, especially when I stitch miniatures.  I use this #20 foot to piece with and to do invisible machine stitching on applique and buttonhole stitching.  I can see really well doing foundation piecing with this foot too.

When stitching seams together I move the needle to the right a couple of clicks to make the perfect 1/4" seam.  Got so used to using it on the 150 I have to force myself to use the regular 1/4" foot on this machine for seaming blocks together.  You can read more about this foot on this blog entry.

Come back again for another installment of my favorite things.  Have added a couple things to my list of sewing things I want to look for in Paducah - thanks for leaving the messages.

Happy Quilting,
Lynn

My Favorite Stuff ....Part 1

Here are a few of my favorite quilting/sewing things that I want to share with you.  Hopefully that will spur you all on to share some of your favorites with me.  Some of these I have probably already shared with you in past blog posts but since they are things I use all the time and really love I will repeat them.

The first one I am going to show you is a magnetic pin cushion.  I purchased mine when they first came out many years ago and it is shaped sort of like a rounded square but is large like the Grabbit ones you can buy now.  I like that I don't have to take time to stick the pins in a cushion as I am sewing.  When stitching on the sewing machine I take the pins out before I get to them and kind of toss them towards the pin cushion.  Calling it a cushion is really stretching it since it is not a cushion at all but old habits die hard.  The pins all line up the same way so you can pick one up without sticking yourself with another one.

When we had a house cat I had to lay a paper or fabric over the magnetic pin cushion or Toby would get on my sewing table and grab a mouthful of pins and take off down to the basement.  She never poked herself since the pins all laid all the same way but scared me a couple of times.  She liked all shiny things and one time took my wedding ring off of my dresser in the bedroom.  I later found it in the living room under a quilt rack where she liked to lay.  Boy was I relieved when I saw the diamond sparkling as I walked by it as I had searched everywhere for it!  Our girls soon learned to keep their necklaces and earrings put away too as a few of them got either carried off or batted off the dresser tops as well.

Speaking of pins, my favorite kind are silk pins.  They are really sharp and so fine and easy to pin fabrics together for piecing and don't leave large holes.  The brand I buy is pictured below.

I have two different needle threaders that I love and both are made by Clover. The one is a Desk Needle Threader and works so slick.  You put the needle eye into a hole, lay the thread across a groove and press the lever down and presto it pushes a loop of thread through the eye.  The older my eyes get the more I depend on it to thread my hand needles.

The second one is more like the traditional needle threader.  What makes it special is it has two sizes of wire so the fine one will pull thread through those really tiny eyed needles.  I have these needle threaders with every ongoing project I have and some to spare.  I can hardly thread the size 11 sharps without a needle threader.

The last "favorite" I am going to show you now is this folding seam ripper.  It has a sharp point and cuts well but the best part is that it folds into the lid so you never have to look for a lid when you want to take it with you to a class or workshop.  The point doesn't get bent or dull from banging around in your sewing box either.

Will share more of my favorites in future posts so come back - also post a comment on what your favorites are too.  The best way to find out what your favorites are is to look beside your machine or where you were working last and I would guess there are a few things you would not like to be without.


Happy Quilting,
Lynn

Paducah On My Mind

I have been thinking of the trip to Paducah off and on for sometime but since yesterday it is about all I am thinking about. I just got this brochure in the mail from my friend. It is chock full of maps, dates and times of events in Paducah and area communities. Have been pouring over it since then.

My two sisters, a niece and good friend and I will be traveling to Paducah to the AQS show on Wed. April 21. I talked to my sisters this weekend and they are getting excited about the trip too. I have gone the last two years and it was the most wonderful time. The quilts are magnificent and the shopping is mind boggling. The first year I didn't even know what to look for first and did a lot of going back and forth to vendors. The second year I made a list and knew if I saw what I wanted I better get it because I might not see it again or it would be gone if I waited until later to purchase.

This year I have had a list pinned to the bulletin board in my sewing room since the first of the year, adding things as I think of them. The items aren't necessarily things that I am going to buy but some that I just want to see in person before I decide if I need/want to buy.

Here are some of the things on my list:

* Jacquard colorless Textile Extender - read that some use it to set colored pencil and printer ink. Have no place locally to get it so hope I can find it at one of the vendor booths.

* Pageboy Template - with it you can cut printer sized paper. I am always cutting freezer paper to size and invariably cut it wrong.

* Piping trimming ruler - used for doing piped binding

* Rotary Blade Sharpener

* Titanium topstitching needles - need to check with my Bernina dealer to make sure I can use them on my 730.

* Masterpiece thread in cones - use it for piecing as I love how fine it is and it doesn't add bulk to the seams.

* Viking Mega Spool Stand - have heard Bernina owners use this accessory on their spool holder and it works like the extra cone thread holder so you don't have a thread stand sitting behind the machine.

Now I want you all to get your thinking caps on the give me some ideas of other not to miss notions, threads, etc. that you absolutely love. I do like that quilters are always willing to tell about their most loved items so am anxiously waiting. I know that this is a wide open request but I really would like suggestions - anything - scissors, rulers, templates, threads, books, patterns, seam rippers, anything that has to do with sewing, designing, ironing, quilting, etc. Please take a look around your sewing area and take time to leave me a message.

One thing that I am curious about is are there any longarm accessories, tools or templates that will cross over to domestic machine quilting? I am always looking for new stuff to help my machine quilting.

I have never had a chance to go to Houston to the big show there but surely do enjoy the Paducah show and after the long winter we have had I am going to bask in the nice weather (I hope.) I feel really lucky to get to go, have a great time with my sisters and niece and friend plus we get to stay with the sweetest woman right in Paducah. Betty Jane is the mother-in-law of our friend, she is such a sweet woman and so generous to let us stay in her house so we try to be good guests. We don't want her to have to work while we are there so do what we can to make our stay enjoyable for her too. We like to take snacks, a meal or two, and a few bottles of wine. (Have to have happy hour each evening after we get back from the show don't you know.) We get the sheets all washed and put back on her beds before we leave so we hope she doesn't have so much to do after we leave to go home on Saturday morning. We all know how much work having company is and sure appreciate her letting us stay with her.

I am waiting for your suggestions.

Lynn

Invaders...YUCK!

When sweeping the floor after lunch yesterday I noticed some little, little ants. Hmm....wonder where they came from? I looked around and saw several more on the wall and followed the trail of ants across the wall into the family room. When they got to the bow window they followed the trim down to the window sill and across the sill to the other side. These ants are less than 1/4" long so are very tiny but I could sure see them as they trailed across my cream colored walls!

At the far side of the window they were going in and out a small crack in the trim where it meets the window. We had problems a couple of years ago with these little ants and finally had to call an exterminator and have not had any show up since then. At that time they were coming in and out of a crack in the window trim above the kitchen sink and were all over my counter tops. I had to have everything put in air tight containers and leave nothing on the counter tops or there would be ants in it.

I did get good results with the following product - Terro ant killer. We just had so many it would have taken years to get rid of them all this way so opted for the professional. Today I pulled out the ant killer stuff again and started using it. Will see if I can get rid of them on my own again first.

To use this product you put a drop of it on a piece of cardboard or foil and the ants love it. I used the macro setting on my camera to get a photo of all these ants bellying up to the bar. They carry it back to the nest and get the rest excited about the new source of food so they all want some too. The directions say it is just sugar and borax and is not supposed to be harmful to pets and people but would be careful if you have children or pets that might take a taste too.

This is what the 3 drops of the Terro liquid looked like after about 1/2 hour. You can see the ants are ringed around each small drop. With many ants eating you will have to replenish the drops and put more on each spot every so often.

I did use soapy water and washed the walls and woodwork off where the ants had been trailing. Ants will follow the sent trails of the ants before them so want to confuse them so they would look for the Terro spots of poison sitting on the window sill near where they were coming in and out instead. It worked.. soon after I saw ants gathering around to eat on the drops of Terro.

They may be enjoying their treat now....but just wait. My belief is they have the whole world outside to live they do not have to live in my house!

Lynn

Yippee - 56 Finished Today

I totally amazed myself yesterday getting all 56 tags finished that I had prepared the day before. (Reported that I had 58 but I mis-counted and there were only 56.) After stitching so many they seem to go quicker all the time. I again stitched them all up then took them to the family room and put in a movie while I turned them all right side out.

I guess I was too fast or there were not enough of them as I got done before the movie was half over. I did pause the movie and went and pressed part of them, rewarded myself and went back to watch more of the move, back and forth until they were all ready for the plastic to be stitched on.

The walking foot does help a lot but I have still had to use the paper most of the time for the presser foot to run across. Think the sewing machine gets warmed up and therefor the plastic gets warmed up and it wants to stick. I have been using the paper most of the time as a buffer between the plastic and the presser foot then I know I will not have problems.

Am up to 139 finished now...am so happy to have that many done. I wonder how many my guild members will do. Sure would hate to have made too many but I guess I can always use them as gifts if I end up making too many. Not sure if I will make more today or take a break from making luggage tags. I hate to get out of the groove since I am on such a roll but to be honest I am getting tired of doing the same thing all day long. I would never have been good working in a factory would I?

It was so beautiful outside yesterday I just had to get out. I walked out to see the new calves but covered my nose and mouth so I wouldn't breath in any of the dust. Didn't think my sinus doctor would like that this soon after surgery.

This calf was very curious about me standing on the other side of the fence and it's mother was close by to make sure her baby was safe. Isn't it so cute?

The calf walked closer and the mother was right beside it and soon after I took this photo she turned in front of the calf to put her body between me and the calf. Notice the matching ear tag numbers - 309. We tag the calf with the mother's number so we know which calf belongs to which mother. John always likes to tease that the number in the calf's ear is so the mother can run around looking for her "kid" by the number. The cow knows which baby is hers but we can't tell the difference, especially when all 100+ cows have had their calves so the ear tag number system is for us not her.

So far a beautiful sunny day out even if it is a little windy. You have probably noticed I post a lot of weather stuff here on my blog. It is kind of the fist topic of conversation among farm folks because so much depends on weather for us. We like dry weather when we are calving, rain on planted crops, dry when we harvest, dry to damp when we plant, etc. If farmers could dial up the weather for the day depending on what activity they are doing I am sure they would figure out how to do it.

Here's to a brand new day!
Lynn

Luggage Tags Ready to Stitch

A couple of my quilt guild members donated fabric to make luggage tags so got them all cut out yesterday and prepared to start sewing today. I got fabric cut for 58 more tags from what they donated. I like to cut a bunch of the rectangles, press under the one end and cut the ribbons then stack them ready to sew.

All I have to do then is pin in the ribbon, lay in the interfacing and stitch them together. I got 34 stitched, pressed and plastic sewn to them yesterday, so another batch is done. Think I am up to around 80 tags finished now.

After I stitch the tags around the first time I take them into the family room and sit in my chair to trim corners and turn them right side out. That way I can take a break from the sewing machine for a while. By the time I got the 34 done yesterday I was pooped! Don't think I will get all 58 stitched today as that is a lot to work on at one time and I still get fatigued from the surgery so have to rest once in a while.

This silly photo below is what was left of that HUGE snow drift behind my sewing room. It finished melting yesterday but look at how ugly my brick patio/sidewalk is. Think I will have to take John's power washer and give it a good clean!

Sunshine today makes me happy. It was overcast yesterday again but we lucked out and didn't get any rain but it stayed cloudy all day anyway. Today is bright and clear and the temperature is up to 41 F (5C) and should get warmer by this afternoon.

Lynn

Luggage Tag Tip

Wanted to pass on a tip that is working for me when making the fabric luggage tags. I suggested using a piece of paper or extra piece of fabric to have the foot of the machine ride on to stitch the plastic because the foot would drag the plastic and cause pleats and all kinds of mess when stitching. I just found a better way to stitch the plastic - use your walking foot.

When I tried using the walking foot today to stitch the plastic there was no dragging, etc. and it stitched the plastic down like a dream. I will put these suggestions on my tutorial but in case you never go back to re-read that blog entry I wanted you all to know about it.

That is all for now....
Lynn

No Sewing Yesterday - Baby Quilt Photos

I hate to not post anything quilty so dug back into my photo archives and am posting photos of all 4 of the quilts I made for my grandchildren. The first was a girl, S. is now 9 and this is her quilt. It was machine appliqued with the invisible method and hand quilted. I was very proud to win a first place ribbon and top baby quilt on all 4 of my grandchildren's quilts at the Nebraska State Fair. I do need to get new photos of these quilts as I have a better camera now that would pick up more of the details, especially of this quilt below. We had just gotten our first digital camera the fall I entered the quilt in the State Fair so don't have any other digital photos of it. Somewhere stashed around this house I have printed photos but sure don't know where right now.

This next quilt was made for the sister D that arrived a year after S so I had to hustle to get it done. She is now 8 and a real cowgirl and loves anything with horses on it so her quilt is just right for her. This quilt was hand appliqued and hand quilted. Once I started hand quilting the grandchildren's quilts I had to do the same for the rest, at least that is what I thought at the time and did manage to do, although they seemed to take longer and longer to make.

A year and a half later our other daughter had a son C. who is now 7. This is the circus quilt I appliqued by hand and hand quilted for him. Was fun to do but it is a good idea to plan the sizes of the background squares to go together more easily than I did on this quilt. I just made a background block any size that I thought looked good with the animal or figure I drew. Took me forever to put them together and figure out how to get them to fit.

Mr. M was born 4 years ago to the mother of C so one of our daughters has two daughters and one has two sons. I just don't want Mr. M to grow up as I just love the way 4 year olds can tell a story. He makes me laugh so much. The girls are wanting to sew when they visit now and I am thrilled about that too. This last Christmas when the boys were here they saw S. stitching up a tote bag and think they want to sew this summer when they come for a visit so am glad to help them all to learn to sew.

His quilt was appliqued using the invisible machine method and hand quilted. I added a corded piece of fabric just to the inside of the binding on this quilt. Liked the little bit of bright color it added to the edge. Found some funky poke-a-dot fabric that I appliqued for the eyes of the bright fish which was fun.

All my good intentions of sitting down at my sewing machine left me after lunch yesterday. I was just too tired to do anything so took a nap instead. Guess the surgery took more out of me than I thought. Maybe today I will get there. I am feeling pretty good and am not having much discomfort at all so things are going pretty well for me post surgery.

Thought you might be interested in reading this article about a woman who was a child prisoner of war in Singapore during the second world war. Very touching that this woman got a chance to see the quilt she helped make so many years ago.

My Tenko Quilt

Just a few drips of rain so not too wet so far today which is good. Had a brisk wind yesterday to help dry things up a bit more too. We had a couple more calves overnight and I am anxious to see them when I heal a little more. Don't think it would be good for me to go out and get all that dust up my nose just yet.

Lynn

Luggage Tags

Here is a photo of all the luggage tags I have finished so far - 52 if I counted right. I am hoping today to stitch up a few more if I feel up to it. The recovery from the sinus surgery I had yesterday is good - no headache and no nausea today and just a little discomfort on my left cheek. I am still supposed to take it easy but sewing is not hard work and I have the preparation work done on about 80 more so can just sit and sew them together if I want.

The instructions for this luggage tag are posted on this blog entry. Check it out if you want to make your own tags. They are easy, fast and would make great gifts.

Several guild members took the pre-cut vinyl rectangles I brought to guild and will make some tags at their homes for me. That will help for sure to get the 300 I need to make.

Not anything else to write about except it is sunny today which is a welcome sight. The weather forecast for this weekend is snow again so better enjoy the sun while we can. Won't winter ever be over?

Lynn

Recovery

I had sinus surgery this morning and now am sitting in my recliner here at home feeling a little wiped out. No sewing today for me. The procedure was outpatient and I had to report to the hospital at 6:00 am which meant we had to leave home at 5:00 am. Not my ideal time for getting up and being on the road but at least I got released to come home early - we were back home by noon. Hopefully the surgery today will take care of my problems. I had sinus surgery in the fall of 2008 but it was more major surgery and this wasn't as long or as involved.

Well now on to more pleasant things. Am showing you a couple of photos I took in 2004 when we lived at another place. We tore the old barn down in the background the year we moved as it was in poor shape and not able to be repaired and fixed up. Hated to see it go but we needed to do that at the time to get the place ready to sell.

I thought the barn made a neat background for the photo of the crocus in bloom that year right around this time. In fact it was taken on the 14th of March that year and this year on the 14th we still had lots of snow to melt - still have some little drifts that are trying to disappear and are a little smaller each day. One of these days they will be gone.

The close up of the crocus flower shows the detail of the stamens and the color variation of the flower petals. I am not sure I have any crocus planted here where we live now but will have to do that this fall as those flowers are such a welcome sight after the winter snows.

When I am feeling better and can get outside to the cow lots I want to get some photographs of the baby calves. We have 9 calves now and probably one more soon today as a cow was in labor when we got home this noon. One of the cows had twins again, this is her third year having twins. This year the cow had one bull calf and one heifer calf.

The wind is blowing today and John is glad. The mud is drying up and the wind will help speed that process along. It is so much nicer for the cows and calves to have dry ground and not to have to walk and lay in really wet lots.

Am getting sleepy now so will prob. take a nap.

Lynn

Guild Meeting Program

I have no photos to post today, sorry. I know when I read blogs I like the photos but today is just going to be photo-less........ Changed my mind and posted this photo of a flowering dogwood tree I took last year in Paducah at the AQS show. Have been thinking and dreaming about going again this year with my two sisters, niece and friend. Besides it just feels more like spring looking at this photo rather than outside at the moment. We had snow again yesterday, not too much but enough to make the ground white. Springtime weather can not come too soon for me.

Thursday night was our quilt guild meeting night and the night I presented my program on fusible web products. I think it went over well but I know I talked too fast like I always do when I give a program. Had some good questions as I went along and they all looked and felt my samples

If you belong to a guild and members do the programs you should volunteer to give one one on something you know or something you want to learn about if you can do research on the subject. I really wanted to know the difference between fusible web products so volunteered to do a program on it. That forced me to do the research and get the samples done.

I wanted to know how they differed in weight - there is a big difference. I presumed that Heat and Bond Lite and Steam A Seam Lite would be about the same weight. I was wrong. Steam A Seam Lite is so much lighter weight when fused than the Heat and Bond Lite. The Heat and Bond Lite was more the weight of the regular Steam A Seam.

I wanted to know how they stuck after washing. Some did better than others and I learned that you have to read the directions on the application of the fusible products as they do vary and it does make a difference. I had one sample that did not stick well at all so made another sample and re-read the directions and fused accordingly. This time it worked really well.

I learned how to transfer your designs to the back of fabric fused with Misty Fuse - a non paper backed web. You draw you design in pencil onto parchment paper and iron it to the fabric and the lines transfer to the back of the fused fabric. I really like the weight of the Misty Fuse as it is so fine and so soft but never wanted to draw directly on the back of the fused fabric and most of the time I couldn't see through it to trace the shapes.

I learned from the International Quilt Study Center research paper that if you are making a quilt you want to last over a 100 years and be handed down generation to generation you should not use any fusible of any kind. That includes basting spray, fusible webs and fusible battings. The fusible battings did hold up better than the other two types of products though. The research they did on aging and light was very interesting. You can read their findings here and also a followup question and answer document.

This is just a little I learned, so as you can see it was well worth my time to give this program as I learned probably more than the members did since I was the one doing the research and testing samples of the different products.

Small guilds like the one I belong to can't afford to get in the big name speakers all the time and depend on their members to give programs too. Don't be afraid to do it if you have not given a program before. Every guild has members of all different levels of expertise and even though I have belonged to the guild since the beginning of time and have quilted for over 35 + years and given many, many programs I really enjoy all the programs we have. No matter how much you think you know about a subject you can always learn more - I always do. Remember your guild members are your friends and you are just showing your friends something new - they will appreciate the time and effort you put in and will learn something from you too.

Off my soapbox now....Have a great day.
Lynn

Fabric Luggage Tags

Warning....This is a very long post including lots of photos. You know photos tell a story sometimes better than words so I took lots of photos of the different steps to make this fabric luggage tag.

A friend asked me to make these tags for her - lots of tags. Well, she wants me to make 300 to be exact and that is a lot of tags. Last fall I asked if guild members would like to help with this project and several did say they would so will get some help getting them done. I have already made 52 in 3 days so they do go fast.

OK, let's get started....
* Cut 2 pieces bright fabric - 6" x 3 1/2"
* Cut 1 piece of interfacing - 5 3/4" x 3 1/4" (This can be fusible but I used an old fabric I wanted to get rid of - it will be hidden so any ugly fabric will work.)
* Cut 1 piece narrow ribbon - 11" long. It can be satin ribbon, gross grain ribbon or twill tape.
* Cut 1 piece of clear vinyl 2 3/4" x 4" (not pictured below)

Fold and press under 1/4" to the wrong side of one short end of each of the bright fabric rectangles.

Fold ribbon in half and pin the raw edges of the ribbon to the center of the right side of one of the fabric rectangles' short ends. (Not the end that you pressed the 1/4" under.)

Place the piece of interfacing under the fold of the second piece of bright fabric rectangles, centering it between the sides on the wrong side of the fabric.

Place the rectangles right sides together and match up the folded edges and all the outside edges, pinning where necessary.

Peek at the ribbon inside.

Peek at the pinned end of the ribbon.

Stitch around the rectangle starting at the folded edges backstitching the beginning and ending, plus backstitch over the place where the ribbon is pinned to help secure it. You don't want it to pull out of the finished tag.

I like to stitch from the interfacing side so I can make sure it has not shifted out of place. Sometimes I don't even pin the layers together - only pinning the ribbon so then it is doubly important to stitch from the interfacing side. Do NOT stitch the folded ends at this time!

Here is the stitched rectangle from the other side, the side without the interfacing.

Clip the corners without clipping the stitching to help eliminate bulk.

Clip all 4 corners.

Grasp the folded ribbon and turn the luggage tag right side out. Use a point turner to push out the corners. Press flat.

Cutting the vinyl can be a problem - the problem being that you can't see it as soon as you lay a ruler over it. I finally figured out how I was going to deal with it and get accurate cuts. I straightened one edge then laid it along one of the lines on my cutting mat and cut a 4" width following the lines on the mat. I trimmed the end even with a line then used my ruler to slice off the 2 3/4" pieces using the lines on the mat to know where to cut. I had to slide the vinyl up to a line for each slice but at least it worked. I stacked the cut pieces alternating lengths on a piece of paper, ten to each paper so I cold keep track of how many pieces I had cut. The vinyl tends to stick together so that is why I switched the lengths back and forth so I can get hold of one when I want to use it.

Lay the vinyl rectangle over the tag with one short end even with the un-stitched end of the tag and the two long sides of the vinyl even with the long outside edges of the tag. Top stitch around the entire tag about 1/8" away from the outside edge. This will catch 3 sides of the vinyl. Do not stitch the other short end of the vinyl as you need to leave it open so the paper tag with your name and address can be inserted.

The sewing machine foot may stick to the vinyl when stitching, mine did. To solve this problem I laid a piece of fabric just inside of where you are going to stitch. (You could use a piece of paper too.) The presser foot will slide along the fabric/paper and stitch along just fine. I also run the other toe of the presser foot almost off the tag as this also helps it move along. When I ran the entire presser foot on the tag that outside toe would drag on the vinyl and make a mess so it works much better the other way.

Added information: After making more of the luggage tags I have found that using a walking foot to stitch the plastic on works so much better than the above method. The foot doesn't stick to the plastic and moves along evenly with out any paper or fabric under the toe of the foot. You will enjoy stitching the plastic on using the walking foot much better than the other method. (If your walking foot still sticks to the plastic use a piece of paper or fabric under the toe that is riding on the plastic, even if it sticks the walking foot still works better than the regular foot.)

All Done! Insert the paper tag with your name, address, etc and attach it to your suitcase, sewing machine case, computer bag, etc.

Did you make it to the end of this long post- sorry it was so long? Hope it entices you all to make a luggage tag or two though. They would make great gifts too. I would suggest that you use bright fabrics for the tags that are used on luggage so the luggage is easy to spot on airline luggage carousels. You know how all the bags look the same when you are trying to find yours.

Until later,
Lynn