I’m excited to share with you a little project I made for the attendees of the SoCal Social!

Viv (from The V Spot) and I were discussing what we wanted to do for the nametags this year. And she had the genius idea to do some sort of tag or holder that could be slipped onto the bags, like a luggage tag. She’s a smarty.

So I dug into the fabric stash and came up with these fun little Business Card Holders – or Luggage Tags! You could use them for either!

One of the features I love about them is the little pocket on the back. So you can slip in extra business cards, or the cards of your new friends! These would be great to make up for gifts – or to whip up before your next conference or event!

They go together really quickly too.

Ready for a tutorial?

To make one holder you’ll need:

• small amount of fabric (measurements below)
• Pellon Decor Bond
• Clear Plastic Vinyl – this is 12 guage (you can often find this in the remnant section of the fabric store – or you can cut up a vinyl tablecloth or use the bags that sheets/comforters come in)

Cut out your fabric and interfacing. You will need:

• 2 pieces 5″ x 5 1/2″ (pay attention to the print on the fabric and cut out the pieces accordingly. 5 1/2″ is the width measurement) of both fabric and Decor Bond
• 1 piece 7″ x 5 1/2″ of fabric and decor bond each
• 1 piece 1 1/2″ x 14″ of fabric cut on bias
• 1 piece 1″ x 5 1/2″ of fabric cut on bias
• 1 piece 1/4″ x 14″ decor bond
• 1 piece 3 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ of clear vinyl

Begin by ironing your decor bond to the wrong side of your fabric pieces.

To make the strap, iron the 1 1/2″ x 14″ piece of fabric in half, wrong sides together long ways. Open back up the fabric and lay the thin strip of Decor Bond so it is just to one side of the center fold. Press in place. Fold each long side in so they meet in the center and press, then fold the entire piece along the first center pressed line and press again.

Basically making bias tape with a little stabilizer in the middle. (If you don’t want to make your own, you can definitely use store-bought bias tape. Just open it up and add in the stabilizer and press everything back together!)

Make the small 1″ x 5 1/2″ piece into bias tape as well – but you don’t need stabilizer. This is to cover the top of the clear vinyl. Also – if you can do this without singing your fingers a bit, that’s a plus. Me? Not going to happen.

Sew down the folded edge of your strap.

Place the tiny bias top along the top edge of the clear vinyl piece, so there is a folded section on each side of the vinyl. Sew the bias tape onto the vinyl, just inside the bottom folded edge.

Now we’re going to make a little sewing sandwich. Which is not as fun as a BLT but it’s close.

Place one of the 5″ x 5 1/2″ pieces right side up. Then fold your larger 7 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ piece in half. Place it so the bottom raw edges line up. Place the vinyl piece on next, with the bias tape on top, and finish it with the last 5″ x 5 1/2″ piece, right side down. The bottom edges of the folded piece and the vinyl should line up with the bases of the other pieces.

Pin the whole shebang together, double checking that your vinyl didn’t slip around while you weren’t looking. It can do that, and sometimes you don’t know until you’ve sewn it all together, which in turn makes you have to undo the whole thing and say fake swear words. Good times.

Sew the pieces together with a 1/2″ seam allowance, leaving most of the center top open for turning. Trim the top corners, and trim 1/4″ off the sides and bottom. This will help with turning right side out.

This is a little tricky to turn right side out, but you can do it. Once it’s mostly turned, you’ll want to make sure you use something to really get the corners straight. I use a little metal chopstick that is perfect – but you can use a turning tool or anything similar. You have to be pretty firm with those bottom corners because of the vinyl.

Once you’ve got it turned right side out, press the top folds in. Be careful not to press over the vinyl, that’s bad for the vinyl and your iron. If you need to, you can press the holder on the back side.

Fold the strap in half and tuck the short ends into the opening of the main section. Center them and pin in place. Sew around the entire tag, using a 1/8″ topstitch along the top edge and a 1/4″ seam on the sides and bottom.

In order to sew over the vinyl portion, you’ll need to cut some small strips of tissue paper and lay them along the edge. Just sew over the top of the strips.

Gently tear the tissue off – and you’re all finished with your super cute little tag!!

These are so quick to do that you can make up a bunch (like say . .  60) and give them out to your friends!

I’m going to use mine just to keep in my purse – and for all my blogging events too!!

I think it looks cute with my fabulous bag from Nest of Posies too!

What do you think? :)

Linking up at Sunday Scoop, Today’s Creative Blog, Met Monday, Tutorials & Tips Tuesday, Quilt Story, Shabby Creek Cottage, My Repurposed Life and the other fabulous parties on the party page – make sure you check them out!