What's a Big Little Project? For me it was a big project, of a lot of little things.
Here are the luggage tags I made for DH to do with as he pleases for his Scooter 'Zine business. I didn't want to be working on luggage tags all the time, so I made over 400 of them to buy me some time without making them. One luggage tag is definitely a little project, but over 400 of them? It's a BIG little project.
All of the fabric for these tags is upcycled denim. I had several people give me jeans they no longer wore, and for this batch of tags, I was mostly busting the colored denim. Yes, there is some blue denim in there, but I used several pairs of colored denim jeans for these tags. The fabric for the scooters is all quilting scraps, and when I could, I positioned the scooter template on the fabric in a way to make best use of the design on the fabric. The loops were mostly single fold bias tapes my mom gave me, that I doubled and sewed up on each side. I just finished sewing up ALL the bias tape she gave me, and how much do I have left?
A LOT, I have a lot left. Why did I double and sew all of that bias tape? Because it's the only way I ever use single fold bias tape. I ordered six circular hangers so I can sort the remaining bias tape into color groups, and hang it in the closet so it doesn't get tangled. What will I use it for? Most of it will be used for drawstrings in bags. If I need to make more luggage tags, it will get used for that, if I need to make loops on a bag or stuffie, I'll use it for that. I've definitely used up a lot of the colors I had, and now have a limited palette of colors. That's ok, because I use double fold bias tape all the time so I end up with scraps of it and I can use it for the same purposes. Are you wondering how my mom ended up with so much bias tape? She lives in New England, and back in the day, when a lot of fabric was made in the USA, New England was filled with fabric mills. A lot of the mills had stores attached, where you could buy directly from the manufacturer, before everything was packaged and pretty. My mom used to buy things for a fraction of what it cost in a store, and those store prices are only a fraction of what you'd pay today.
There still are some USA companies making bias tape and other trims today, and they are still much cheaper buying from them directly than buying at a store. I buy bulk binding from both Home Sew or Dove Original Trims. I've had very good luck with both of those companies. Do the loops for luggage tags have to bias cut? No, they don't, this was a matter of using what I had that I wouldn't have used otherwise. I don't do a lot of garment sewing, so single fold bias tape isn't something I'd use much of, but my mom wanted to see what she had put to use, and I'm doing that. One of my next projects is a bunch of drawstring bags, so I'll be using more of these sewn strips shortly.
Now that I'm done all of those luggage tags, I need to regroup and start prepping for my next projects. I have a deadline quilt that's not even cut out but need to be finished by late August. I have some quilts without strict deadlines that need to be finished and gifted, plus I need to get started on Christmas gifts. I must say, I am REALLY good at keeping myself busy!