How to Make Home Laundry Tapes for Clothing
If you've sewn a garment as a gift or to sell at a craft fair, including a tag with laundry instructions helps the wearer know how to care for the item and gain more enjoyment from it over the years. When you sew a wearable item, pre-washing all washable fabrics and trims helps keep them from shrinking unevenly when the finished garment gets washed at home.
Although many retailers sell pre-printed laundry tags for homemade garments, you can customize the instructions and save money by making them at home.
Things You'll Need
- Packaged or bulk white cotton 1-inch twill tape
- Fine-tip permanent fabric marker
- Double-sided fusible web
- Iron and ironing board
- Thread
- Needle
Instructions
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1
Wash the cotton twill tape in a washing machine and dry in a clothes dryer according to manufacturer's instructions to pre-shrink the tags.
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2
Write the laundry instructions on the twill tape using the permanent fabric marker.
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3
Cut the twill tape to size for the tag.
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4
Peel the adhesive backing from one side of the double-sided fusible web and apply it to the back of the twill tape tag. Place the tag where you want it in the garment and remove the other side of the adhesive backing. Press with an iron to fuse the tag to the garment.
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5
If the fabric is not safe for ironing, sew the tag to the garment using needle and thread.
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1
Tips & Warnings
You can use printable fabric in an inkjet printer to type instructions and print from the computer instead of writing on twill tape. Print several tags at once to fill the sheet of printable fabric. Cut the tags apart and affix to the garment as described in Steps 4 and 5.
Account for all components of the garment when writing the care instructions. Some embellishments and rhinestones cannot be laundered.
