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These fabric scrap gift tags are a fun way to use up little bits of fabric and play with sewing on paper.
I am a big believer in keeping all the little bits and leftovers from projects, which is probably why my craft room/office is overflowing with too much stuff constantly.
But it also makes a project like these fabric scrap gift tags super simple to make, because all I had to do was find the bag of random scraps (and the box with the gift tags).
Gift Tag Supplies
All you need to make fabric scrap gift tags is some fabric scraps, a sewing machine and some thread, scissors, gift tags (which you can buy or make your own) and a glue stick (the disappearing color ones are great for this, but any kind will do).
If you don’t already have a bunch of strips of little bits of fabric in your stash, you can sew pieces together as needed.
I ended up making a little sheet of strips, but almost all of these pieces were already sewn to something that was trimmed from a previous project.
How to Make Fabric Scrap Gift Tags
If you haven’t already done so, sew your fabric scraps together into a little sheet. Mine was much bigger than it needed to be for the few tags I made, but you can use this fabric for other stuff, too.
I didn’t bother with cutting anything, making sure my seam allowances were even or pinning anything together. You can be more or less careful with this as you like.
Once you have some bigger fabric to work with, cut out your shapes. I just did Christmas trees because triangles are easy. You could also try Christmas balls, stars, bells, little gift boxes, or whatever else suits your fancy.
When you have your shape the size you want it, use glue stick to tack it to the gift tag.
I used zigzag stitches and green thread to sew my trees to the cards, but you can use whatever you like. This might be a fun time to try a decorative stitch on your machine, or just keep it simple. Remember to not have too many expectations, because once it’s sewn it’s done. You can’t rip stitches out of paper and have it look like it never happened.
After I stitched the first one I decided it needed a little tree trunk, so I cut a piece of fabric, glued it down and sewed it on after. The other samples I glued the trunk down first and put the tree shape on top of it.
Gift Tag Embellishment Ideas
There are lots of different options for ways you could embellish these. You could embroider or bead onto the fabric before you sew it down, or add more stitching in different colors.
For this one I added a glittery gold star at the top of the tree.
This one got a little bit of lace (this piece was already trimmed to that size) that’s actually a sticker. You could also sew on fabric lace if you like. Or you can layer scraps of different sizes and shapes like on these layered hearts.
If you leave more room on your tag you could also sew designs onto the paper where there’s not fabric. So many options!
These easy fabric scrap gift tags were so fun to make, and I think they’re cuter the less “perfect” they are, so get wild with fabric choices, embellishments and colors.
And remember to take your needle off your sewing machine when you’re done and label it as being for paper only! You don’t want to use that needle on fabric again.
