a simple quilted nametag

When my daughter, who is now nearing 20 years old, was a baby, a friend of mine gifted her with a quilted baby nametag (photo below) perfect for attaching to her diaper bag.   My daughter was too little to care, but I loved this!  Today I found it squirreled away with some of her childhood momentos in a special box she keeps in her closet...

(trying to be sensitive to privacy concerns, I've obscured last names)

Years later, after using it on her diaper bag and then on what I called a 'to-go' bag, I drew a pattern from it and made little nametags to gift other new babies through the years.  At first I copied the original design elements using pink gingham fabric, with simple straight stitching....I also have a Bernina machine that stitches an alphabet.   

A few years ago I began to be a little more creative.  The example below shows I am still using simple fabrics, such as this pretty blue/white for a little boy, but what a great accent the red decorative stitching makes!  In this photo you can also see the nametag doubling as the 'gift tag' for a baby shower gift.  But I was still using basic pink gingham for girls and blue/white for boys....

....until recently I began to branch out a little more.  Still thinking pink for girls, this is a pretty contemporary pink patterned fabric....   Notice how the 'name' area has changed....

This is a similar one, just a darker pink, and better to see the decorative stitching used for the edging.  Around this time, using a computer program, I drew my own pattern with true straight lines and equal angles...so you can begin to see a more defined shape...notice also I've switched to cording instead of ribbon....

...and this last batch look at the fun fabric(s) I found for both boys....

...and even girls... the decorative stitching is the only difference.

Even though these will be shipped to toddlers and little children who don't need a diaper bag.... they will make a fun backpack tag.  One mother said she could tie her little boy's tag to his pail he uses at kindergarten that contains his stuff. 

However these moms want to use their children's tags, they were a lot of fun to make and through this post, it's been interesting to see their evolution through the years.
~Lisa


Linking this post to: 
Shwin & Shwin - sisters that create
'What I Whipped Up Wednesday' at Sugar & Dots
'Whatever Goes Wednesday' at Someday Crafts