Gift Making - Bag Tag Style

Well, I've made a little something for all the girls in my daughter, Bridgette's family with the exception of Lydia. Bridgette got one of my first projects as I was testing out my machine. I made her a reversible wreath sash. One side was patriotic and one side was floral. I still like it and I hope she does as well. 

Then, I made a couple of pouches for Lillie for her birthday. One was a cute makeup pouch that is lined in a really cute clock fabric and the other was a simple stand up zip pouch with nail polish embroidered on one side and her name on the other. It is lined with a cute nail polish print fabric. 

I used scraps of fabric for the outside of both pouches. I just love how they turned out and I think they will be useful for our aesthetically minded Lillie.

Next came Luci's birthday gifts. I made her just a simple zip pouch using scrap fabrics. Embroidered on one side of the pouch is her name in her current favorite color - purple. On the other side is the name of her school mascot - Tigers. Since she recently earned a spot on the middle school volleyball team, I thought she might use the pouch for things to take to matches or practice. 

This is such a versatile little pouch that it could gather up all sorts of things and be dropped down into a tote of backpack. 

I'd also done some practice work making some cute bag tags. Bridgette got a couple of them.

I even threw in a multi-colored ribbon tassel for her as I was learning to make those at the time as well. Middle school Luci also needed a bag tag, I thought. So, I put a couple together for her as well. 

Again, her volleyball interest became an easy theme for those bag tags. I later added another bag tag for her that I mailed in her birthday card.

The birthday bag tag is one of my favorites that I've made so far. The designs and fabrics just seem to be a perfect fit. Those little tags are really cute. I can see why they are trendy but they also are quite a bit of trouble, especially since I seem to think they should have something on both sides whenever possible.

So, three of the girls in Bridgette's family have gotten treats from my new embroidery machine. However, Lydia was a bit left out. Her birthday is in the spring. So, she didn't get a birthday gift. I didn't use her as a practice project. So, she had no little cute treats from me. I decided I'd better remedy that shortfall this week.

I did a little head scratching to decide what I needed to stitch up for her. As a senior in high school who is taking college classes as well as high school courses, I knew she probably didn't wag a book bag or back pack full of books around. However, she does play in the band. So, she has a saxophone case. Plus, she just recently got her driver's license. So, she would need a keychain. I decided bag tags would be just the thing. 

I adapted one of the designs that I had purchased to use for decorating a zip pouch for her for Christmas and featured the sax on the center of a bag tag.

I tried out a new font I had gotten as a bonus with another purchase and put her first initial on the opposite side. 

On another bag tag, I tried out a music note design that I had purchased. One of the reviews says that the machine stops after stitching the heart and would allow for changing colors. I must not have been paying close enough attention to do that. But I do like it all in one color. It stitched up smoothly and beautifully. 

On the back side I used a scrap of fabric and added a bit of a LaVergne and Shirley touch with the swirly L. I'm sure Lydia won't know about LaVergne and Shirley but I have fond memories of all her monogrammed items.

As I was stitching up those two, I got a brainstorm to create one for her as a senior year sort of thing. I've been wanting to make a long narrow bag tag and this Bengal Tiger design was perfect for it. I got it free with another purchase. So, I decided to give it a whirl. As sometimes happens, the colors did not translate well for this design. The first one I stitched had the tiger body in a brown color. While I know that tigers do look sort of brown, I wanted that true orange look for this tag. So, I stitched it out a second time using a true orange. (That's one thing I wish these sellers would do - tell what thread brand they use. Giving the number of the thread is just not enough for me sometimes.)

Then, on the back side, I combined a couple of fonts to commemorate her graduating class year. One came with my machine and the other is one I purchased. I kind of like the long, narrow bag tag. I strung them on a carabiner and added some ribbon to a key ring to finish them all off.

Now Miss Lydia will be all gaudy with her keys or her instrument case or something and all four girls in the family will have a stitched up something from me!