Special gifts deserve a special gift tag! Create a combination design using the Free Design of the Month, lettering from Brother software or built into your machine, and this bonus In-the-Hoop gift tag design download. The added pocket on the back of the tag is ideal for inserting a gift card or a heartfelt greeting. The tag featured here has a holiday theme but you could customize this for many occasions with a custom greeting or an alternative embroidery design. See the included option for making your own custom embellished ribbon for a fun way to trim your finished gift tag!
Materials and Supplies:
- Embroidery Machine with 4-inch hoop capability
- Free Design of the month, compliments of Brother
- Medium Weight Tear-Away Stabilizer
- Embroidery thread and bobbin thread
- Low tack tape for temporarily securing pieces
- Embroidery needle for embroidering
- Two pieces of ribbon measuring approximately ½-inch wide X 4-8-inches long
- Stiffened craft felt for Gift Tag: One piece of measuring 4 ½-inches square for front and One piece measuring 3-inches square for back pocket
Steps to Create Gift Tag
Tightly hoop a piece of Tear-Away Stabilizer in the 4-inch hoop. Download the following designs and transfer them both to your machine:
Free Design of the Month: Holly_with_Flower.pes
Bonus Design: Gift_Tag_ITH.pes
Assemble your supplies, including decorative ribbon.
Use Edit mode capabilities to create a combination design as follows:
- Open gift tag design first. Add the Holly_with_Flower motif. Add lettering to fit within the tag, adjusting the position of your lettering and the motif making sure everything fits within the pocket outline of the tag and below star at the top. It is likely that you’ll need to use the smallest font size and adjust spacing of letters to fit. See Figure #3.
Tip: Create a tag with longer lines of lettering by rotating the string of letters, or by eliminating the motif altogether in favor of additional lettering.
Place the 4 ½-inch square in the center of the hoop and tape in place along the outer edges of the square. Note that the tape color is slightly enhanced to show more prominently in these photos. See Figure #4.
- Stitch design in the following order to create the tag:
- Skip forward in the design, bypassing the pocket outline and the star, and advancing to the decorative frame. Stitch the decorative frame. Stitch the Holly_with_Flower motif. Stitch the added lettering. See Figure #5.
Remove tape and carefully turn the hoop over to the back side without disturbing the piece in the hoop. Place the 3-inch square pocket piece over the back, having the piece cover the bottom and three sides of the decorative frame. Securely tape the outer edges of the piece in place, with tape very close to the edge to keep from interfering with stitching. See Figure #6.
Replace hoop on machine. Now, stitch the pocket outline, the first color in the original design. Remove hoop from the machine. Again, carefully turn the hoop over to the back side without disturbing the pieces in the hoop. Tape ribbons in a crisscross fashion at the top center of the tag. See Figure #7a.
Next, stitch the star. Note that star for anchoring ribbon stitches just below the decorative frame. Check to make sure you are not hiding any of the lettering on your custom ribbon before stitching. Remove hoop from machine.
Embroidery is now complete. See Figure #8.
To finish, remove tag from hoop. Remove tape and gently pull away all visible tear-away stabilizer. Trim threads if necessary. Use scissors to carefully trim around the tag, leaving a ¼-inch margin beyond the decorative frame. Cut ends of ribbon at an angle. You are finished! Enjoy!
Options and Ideas:
- Change the designs and wording to use for any other gift giving occasion you choose!
- Stiffened felt is available in a variety of colors. Have fun using different combinations.
- You can easily change the name on the tag and make multiples of these at once.
- Form a loop with one piece of decorative ribbon to use as a hanging tag.
- The pocket on the back is sized just right for a gift card.
See Figure #9 for an example of the front and back of a second tag.
