Sewing Labels Personalized By You

Creating your own clothes can be so rewarding, especially when you look at your completed sewing project and it's exactly as you envisioned it would be. Adding sewing labels personalized by you is a great way to make your mark on your completed apparel, similar to the way in which artists would sign the bottom corner of their paintings. 

Woven custom sewing labels are printed using eco-friendly inks, which penetrate deep into the fibers of the satin material, permanently bonding them. This infusion technique results in a long lasting print which will not scratch off or peel away, whilst also offering amazing color reproduction and fine detailing. 

These custom sewing labels are available in packs of 10, 20, 40, 100 or 200 and in 13 different sizes, you can choose between a folded or flat label style. The flat, sew on labels are heat sealed around the edges to ensure no fraying occurs and are available in sizes from as small as 35 mm x 15 mm to as big as 90 x 70 mm. The folded, sew in labels have a closed edge and a cut edge. The cut edge is so that you can sew in your label to your garment. These folded clothing labels can be made as small as 25 mm x 25 mm to 50 mm x 50 mm. 

There are a few things to bear in mind when creating personalized sewing labels, personalized by you and hand printed by us. A 10mm seam allowance each cut edge is included on top of each label size. We advise using a 10pt or higher font size, not in a lightweight or fine version of a font, instead favoring standard or heavy styles. Take a look at some of the examples below regarding how to best layout your design for your woven sewing labels.

Due to the production process that we use, there is the possibility of some seconds or borderline cases of labels. When this occurs we would automatically include these with your order (free of charge) in the hope that you might be able to make use of them. We feel that this is a much better solution than sending them straight to the landfill. If you notice these cases within your order, it's worth checking as it's likely that they have been sent as extras rather than as part of your order. Due to the handmade nature, there is a chance that small sections of printed cutting lines will be visible. 

Please note: If you opt for folded labels, these will not be pre-folded.

Sizing For Hemming And Shrinkage

We have a full Cut & Sew service here at Contrado, and are able to hem your fabric prints for a small additional charge. We create a small one- or two-fold hem that typically uses 0.2" to 0.75" (5-20mm) of material, depending on the thickness of the fabric. So, for example, if you want a finished piece of fabric that measures 39.37" x 39.37", you will need to order a size of 39.96" x 39.96" to allow for the hem (on top of that please also allow for shrinkage of min 2%). The thicker the fabric, the bigger the hem will be. You can choose to have your prints hemmed with either Black or White thread. On our silk and other light woven fabrics, one hemmed edge will be straight (vertically down the roll) and the other will be slightly rippled. The hemming material allowances are as follows and you need to make your print bigger to accommodate the hem:

• Light Fabrics (0.59oz-2.95oz): For silks and other light fabrics, we use 0.24" - 0.32" / 6mm-8mm in the hem (2 fold), so overall width/height will be minus 0.48"-0.56""/ 12-16mm
• Medium Fabrics (2.98oz-5.90oz): For medium-weight fabrics that fray, we use 0.5 - 0.75" / 15-20mm in the hem (2 fold) so overall width/height will be minus 1.4" - 1.6" / 35-40mm
• Stiff/Heavy/No-fray fabrics: we use 0.5 - 0.75" / 15-20mm in the hem (1 fold) so overall width/height will be minus 1.5" / 35-40mm

All of these measurements are approximate and can vary. Including with shrinkage, it can mean a fairly significant difference to ordered dimensions, so please plan your print accordingly. Depending on how open the weave is, our fabric can shrink anywhere from 2% to 8% with the average being 2.5%.

How Would you Like the Edge?

• As it comes. We cut around your image, leaving a simply scissor cut, perhaps uneven white fabric border. 
• Hem with thread. We can hem your fabric with a choice of black or white thread. Please allow 1-2 days additional production time. See below for information on how hemming affects the size of your print. We offer an overlock hem, as well as a folded hem (one or two fold depending on the fabric) however not all fabrics are suited to both hem types. If you can see both options, it means both are suitable, and you will be able to choose whichever you prefer. 
• Cut on the line. We will cut neatly on the edge of your design. This means that if you have a border around your design we will cut around that border, if your design takes the whole space of the fabric, then we will neatly cut around the edge of that image. Please be aware, when we cut along the line, we have to cut against the grain of the fabric. This is the standard procedure for fabric cutting. This means that with some fabrics, for example, Georgette and Mulmul, which have a slight wave in them, some fraying will occur. This is unavoidable, as the cut follows the grain of the textile. 

All of our fabrics are cut manually by hand, with the utmost care and attention. If your fabric has a slightly uneven look on the edges or a touch of fraying, this does not indicate a flaw in the textile. It is not always possible to achieve a perfectly straight cut with certain fabrics, so please do bare this in mind when it comes to your design. If you have any queries or would like to know about our cutting methods in more detail, please get in touch and we will be more than happy to discuss them with you.

Please note: As we make everything by hand, all sizes may vary slightly.

For further information about our fabrics see our FAQs.

What information is good for the labels?

Your sewing labels in smaller sizes are great for putting your logo on brand name onto to create some real brand recognition. Putting your mark against your work is a great way to take pride in what you do, and spread the word.

What else would I put on the labels?

If you opt for smaller personalized sewing labels then you won't be able to get much more than a name and/or logo on there, but the larger labels can be used to add things like your website address and even care instructions for the fabrics that you've used in your project.

Where would I find the icons for the care instructions?

To make things as easy as possible for you, in our design interface, you can add icons to custom sewing labels personalized by you from our image library. In the library, there is a tab called washing instructions, and you'll find a number of the common care instruction icons in there.