Labeling your work

I know I've mentioned this before, but it's something I feel is really important when it comes to producing and finishing, lovingly, handmade items. Whether it's a piece of clothing, a home decor item or a handmade card, I think it's important to label your work in some way. Not only does it look professional, it gives you ownership of your hard work AND allows you the opportunity to express your creativity and individuality in yet another way. Labeling your work can really be an extension of the work itself.

I don't know if you know this, but my personal blog is called Hello Beatufiul. The reason I picked that title was because when I first got into the creative scene I was making bags and selling them. I wanted to create a label to sew inside the bags that would make people smile when they saw it. I wanted people to feel good and happy. About themselves. About life. I thought that opening your bag and being told 'Hello Beauftiul' would be one way to create smiles. And smiles are contageous, you know :-)

So....that leads me to the label on my new dress. With a handmade item, you don't have to see boring manufacturer's labels or suffer depressing size tags (I'm sure I'm not the only one who hates THOSE...) You have the opportunity to create a space in the back of your clothes that makes you happy.

For this dress label, I cut a square of fabric and pinked the edges with my shears. I prefer this method to hemming the edges, which can create bulk on lightweight fabric like this. I then used a ribbon printer (mine is the LabelWorks 300 by Epson) to print the phrase 'you look lovely' and sewed it to the square of fabric. This printer also prints symbols, so instead of that annoying dress size tag, I printed a little heart design and added it, vertically on a contrasting pink ribbon.

Ahh, and now my dress is complete!

What little message would YOU like to read inside your clothes?