Thursday, February 5, 2015

Labeling your Crochet Goods + SALE on Lables

It's a new year and I know we are all taking the time to improve our craft businesses. 
Last year I started adding labels to my crochet goods. I spent a lot of time researching the best way to accomplish this and shared it with all of you in a blog post. It is still one of my most popular posts where I generate the most comments and questions. 

I was recently contacted by Melody, from Mad Mad Graphics on Etsy, where I ordered my labels. She was so thankful for the tutorial I shared that she wants to offer everyone a 15% off coupon code that will be good for 3 months!!! Just place an order and use code "MYSWEETPOTATO3", this code will expire April 30, 2015. 
And for your convienence I have copied the original tutorial below. 
Have fun creating your labels and bringing your crafting goods up to the next level. 

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I started selling crochet hats over 3 1/2 years ago and didn't expect it to really take off so I just made them and sold them. Well, to my surprise, today I am still selling and love creating them and am honored and excited every time someone orders one. 

Now that I am confident my business will continue to grow (plus the fact that I just signed on to sell at a local shop) I started looking into ways to be and look more professional. I decided the first step would be adding labels to my hats and other crochet items. I tried communicating with multiple shops and wasn't getting anywhere. Turn around time was a minimum 3-4 weeks and I had a hard time just getting in contact with the owners.

I turned to my facebook page and asked for recommendations. I started sending out inquiries. The first to reply was Melody from Mad Mad Graphics. Melody answered all my questions, was informative and had a very quick turn around (and I didn't even tell her I was in a rush). She collected my information. I placed my order Thursday evening. Melody then shipped my order Friday, yes I said Friday!!! I received my labels from Mad Mad Graphics on Monday. The labels were just like the proof she sent me, very clear and high quality. I would highly recommend ordering your labels from Mad Mad Graphics and make sure to tell Melody that I recommended her. Make sure to follow her Mad Qeen Mother facebook page as well!

Many of my facebook fans have inquired about adding labels as well, here is a step by step guide to how I used the labels. It also shows how easy it really is: 
 The labels arrived within days of my order. I am still amazed at how quick Melody was at corresponding, designing, printing and shipping my labels. I had these labels in my mailbox within 4 days of my first message to her. Not that is 5 star service!
To quickly cute the tags out I used my rotary cutter. This step only took about 5 minutes because there are markings on the fabric that shows you were to cut or align your cutting guide. I only cute them long ways, then turned to the scissors. 
I cut the short edges of the labels by hand. This was also very quick but now my labels are cut and stored right next to my sewing machine and ready to add to any item I make.
UPDATE: the labels I ordered are 3/4" wide X 1 1/2" high
When you are ready to sew them onto your hat just fold them in half. I ran my finger nails along the seam to help reinforce it. There is a paper backing that you need to take off before you sew so make sure to peel that off (I peeled it off after I folded them in half).  
 Now was the big moment. Sewing the labels to your hats. This was a bit trickier than I thought it would, you may want to practice on a couple crochet items before you go to the real thing. My first attempt I didn't get the back of the label, but once I realized this I just remembered to double check before I began to sew.
*Note: some of my hats are made in a bulky yarn and do not fit through the sewing machine, I was able to hand sew the labels on just fine. This is an option for those that do not have a sewing machine.
Look how nice and professional my hats look now. I am so excited to bring these hats to a local shop and start selling them. With any luck I would love to run into someone proudly wearing a My Sweet Potato 3 hat in downtown this fall or winter. 

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