I’ve been meaning to sew myself some luggage tags for a long time now, and what finally motivated me was putting together my DIY gift guide for travelers. I guess I’ll have to go back and add these luggage tags to the guide, because I think they’d make great little stocking stuffers.
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Materials:
Leather or vinyl (thicker leather is preferable, but not too thick for your sewing machine)
Sewing machine
Leather needle
Thread
Leather punch
Ball chain and end (6 inches)
Scissors
X-acto knife
Chalk or fabric pencil
Thin cardboard
Glue stick
Alligator/bulldog clips
Template
Metal eyelets and setter (optional)
Hammer (optional, for setting the eyelets)
1. Print and cut out the luggage tag template circle. Leave the center intact for now.
2. Place the template on the back of the leather, and trace around it. Repeat, and cut out two circles of leather.
3. Line up the two leather circles with the template, and punch a hole through the template and both circles where indicated.
4. On the paper template, cut out the rectangle in the center, lay the template on the back of one of the leather pieces, and trace the perimeter of the cutout.
5. Cut out the rectangle on three sides on the leather, leaving the short side closest to the hole you punched uncut so you have a little flap.
6. Optional step: If you’re using thinner leather, add metal eyelets to the holes to reinforce them.
7. Line up the leather circles and hold them together with bulldog clips. See those two little dots on the template? Mark them with chalk, and when you sew the two pieces of leather together, they’re your starting and stopping points.
8. Cut out the address insert for the luggage tag, and glue it onto thin cardboard (not corrugated cardboard, but the kind cereal boxes are made out of). Let the glue dry, then insert it into the luggage tag. (You could also just print the template out onto cardstock.) Add the ball chain, and you’re done.
Here’s another one I made with thicker leather. With the thicker leather I was able to skip the eyelets, and it also allowed me to stamp the word “WANDER” onto the front.
