How To…Branded Product Labels

I’ve been asked quite a few times how I produced the branded labels on my lavender hangings. Having spent many an hour online trying to find a company that would produce labels with my logo for less than £400, I’m happy to share the steps to help fellow makers!

If you haven’t come across them before, Spoonflower are an American company who will print your own pattern or design onto material. They have a range of different fabrics to choose from, and the minimum order is an 8” x 8” test swatch.

There’s a fab tutorial on the Jaybird Quilts blog on how to create your labels in a document, to upload to Spoonflower – Julie’s used them for quilt labels, but it’s the same idea.

Have a think about what you want to put on your labels; I chose to use the leaf logo on the front of mine, and my web address on the back, so it’s easy for people to find me again if the hanging is a gift, or if someone asks where it came from.

When I was designing my label, I sketched on and folded pieces of paper, experimenting with the size, logo, and how I would fold and sew the finished piece (if you’d like neat folded edges, remember to leave space around your logo to fold over, and leave space to sew your label into your work). Once you’ve decided on your label content and spacing, repeat the label over and over again within your software package, ready to upload the one file to Spoonflower.

Spoonflower produce swatch books to let you try all their fabric types, but the one I’ve used here is Quilting Weight Cotton. I ordered a fat quarter, which gave me roughly 140 labels; they took 2 weeks to arrive, and cost about £12 all in (Summer 2011).

The labels arrive in one sheet; cut them horizontally so you have strips of logos.

Using a bias tape maker, iron the strips with the folded top and bottom edges. I have to thank Clarabella Craft for this tip! (I had a few burnt fingertips before!)

Then cut the strip into individual labels…

…fold and iron those over. I keep mine in a bundle held by bulldog clips, ready to use whenever I’m making new stock.

I hope this is useful!

Next time, I’ll look at ways to brand your packaging.

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Moira Fuller makes and sells a range of beautiful handbound books and prints for her shop Hunt and Gather Design. Her Autumn/Winter 2011 range Into the Woods is available now.