Custom Fabric Labels [That Won't Cost You a Bazillion Dollars].

I've recently started making quilts, and I've given away every quilt I've made so far. Each time I've gifted one, I've wished I had put my own label on it. Party just because it is fun, but mostly to be able to give a handmade gift that states that it is handmade, and by whom, with more longevity than an accompanying card. However, if you've ever looked into having your own fabric labels made, you would know that those little scratchy scraps are EXPENSIVE. Like $0.50 per label expensive. Which really isn't that much, compared to the $ that goes into a quilt, but still, I figured it wasn't worth it, and moved on.

Then I stumbled upon this post from See Kate Sew, while looking around for something else, and all my  problems were instantly solved. Her post, a great tutorial, details how to design, upload and order your own, custom fabric from Spoonflower, and then use it to make your own labels.

In a flash my mind was filled with piles upon piles of completed, gorgeous quilts, each with my own, neat little label in the corner. I designed, uploaded, and placed an order right then and there for my own custom labels for all my future project. I made my logo using Pages instead of Photoshop, and I was a lot less meticulous (surprise!) compared to Kate's tutorial, but they still turned out perfect. The whole process was ridiculously easy and straight forward (please click through to Kate's tutorial if you need help). And cheap. I got hundreds upon hundreds of cute little labels, all for a combined total of $20. Turn-around time for my order was about 1 week.

They arrived yesterday!

This is what my custom fabric looks like:

Just in time to add one to my latest completed project before I gift it.

I am ridiculously happy with my little labels. They look awesome in person, they wash well, and they have the added benefit of being soft, just as soft as fabric. I'm really happy about this unforeseen perk, as I loath scratchy labels, and I was a bit worried that they would be annoying on the completed quilts.

Thanks, Kate, for the wonderful idea & tutorial!

Now I just need to finish 300 more quilts, just so I can label them with my nifty, new labels.