Saturday 4 January 2014

Luggage Tags and a Scrappy Story

What do you give someone who travels?  Everybody needs their luggage properly identified, right?  So a few days before Christmas, I set out to make a few luggage tags.

Update: see the tutorial here.

The first ones were originally made for my husband, but ended up being gifted to someone else a few days before the big day.



So I made these ones for him instead:



 
And a couple more for my someone else:



My husband liked his so much that, after gift opening, an hour before heading out to the big family Christmas brunch, he suggested his brothers might like some...  So I whipped up a couple more - yes, Christmas morning -  but forgot to take pictures.  Here's a picture I received via email after the fact. 


Yikes... you can see I rushed this one a bit...


That was a fun, fast project.  I am preparing a tutorial... stay tuned!

From Bahamas with Love

Did you notice the batik fabric in the first two tags plus one of my husband's?  I have a nice story to share about those.

Remember, in my last post, I bragged about the beautiful Liberty fabric my husband brought home from London on his last trip before Christmas.  His previous trip?  The Bahamas.  Yes, I know...

I had forgotten to look up fabric stores before he left, so one night, he was out for drinks and mentioned to the bartender that he normally buys fabrics for his wife, and asked him where he could find some.  The bartender replied that there was no fabric store nearby, but he got someone to tend the bar for him, went home and returned a few minutes later with a bag full of scraps.  These scraps:


I assume the scraps belong to his wife.  Apparently, their house is "full of scraps".  I am not quite sure whether she knows about his giving away scraps to random strangers...   He told my husband the fabrics were local, so I looked it up, and sure enough, they are made by Androsia.  Here's the blurb from their website:
Androsia is a batik fabric-and-clothing manufacturing enterprise located on the island of Andros in the Bahamas. It uses the Environmental Beauty of the Bahamas for inspiration in its print designs and brilliant colours.
I don't normally go for batiks, but I love the story of how they came in my possession, and I think they are pretty cool.  I am thinking about making a little something for my husband to take with him and give them when he returns, hopefully without getting the generous bartender in trouble.

What should I make?  Suggestions welcome!

3 comments:

  1. I can't believe you made luggage tags on Christmas morning! You are officially a hardcore quilter! I've not made luggage tags before, but I have made piles of those little handle covers that help identify your bags. Great story about the batik fabric scraps - I'll have to think about suggestions for them!

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  2. Love the luggage tags! I would like to know how you made them and what kind of clear plastic you used for the "window".
    I enjoy your blog very much, even though I don' quilt. I am a sewer however so I can relate, especially sewing on Christmas morning. That brings back memories of years past.

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  3. Those luggage tags are fantastic! And a great story about the batik scraps! I'm not normally a batik lover either but these have a really wonderful vibrancy to them :) As for what to make them, what about something you would make for a swap partner in a sewing swap? She obviously sews LOL. Like a patchwork pouch, mini quilt, sewing machine cover?

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