Storage Jar Labels with Tutorial

Here's another one of the projects I made for the Master Craftsters campaign on Craftster.  The very last picture shows the wonderful new cubbyhole shelf I had just gotten from The Pottery Barn--I had seen it in the background of someone's post on Craftster, and I HAD TO HAVE IT!!  I ordered it online, and I just love it to pieces!  Coincidentally, a month or two prior to that, I had bought a case of canning jars at the grocery store with the intention of filling them with goodies to add to swap packages; but when I tried it out, the relatively small size of the jars, combined with their weight, made them a poor choice for a fun extra in a swap package, so I scrapped that idea and they were just sitting on the floor of my living room, taking up space.  As soon as I had the shelf set up in my sewing room, the lightbulb came on over my head:  Canning jars would fit in the cubbies!--The jars needed labels!--The Bernina 380 sews words!--I know what my next project will be!!!!

If your sewing machine doesn't sew words, you could make labels similar to this by either hand embroidering onto the felt; or, using cotton fabric or linen, you could rubber-stamp the words.


Storage Jar Labels using the BERNINA 380

     

I have a new cubby-hole shelf in my sewing room, and I'm using pint-size canning jars for storage there. I wanted some labels for the jars, and the BERNINA 380 just happens to be able to sew letters and words--this is a perfect project to experiment with that!

     

For 12 jars with a 10" circumference, you need 12 fabric strips cut 1 1/2" x 11", 12 pieces of 1/4" wide elastic cut 10" long, and wool felt in two colors.

     

Start by making the straps to hold the labels in place: using a 1/4" seam, sew the fabric strips in half lengthwise, right sides together, then turn them right-side-out. Thread one piece of elastic through each fabric tube. (I used the turning tool in the picture above to do both.) Then overlap the ends of the elastic 1/2" and sew the overlapped area securely on the machine.

     

You don't have to finish the ends of the fabric, since they will be covered by the label.

     

Now it's time to make the label! The manual for the BERNINA 380 gives easy-to-follow instructions for selecting the letters you want to sew. You scroll through the alphabet and make your selection. 

   

     

Then you step on the pedal and the machine sews the word! It's so cool!

     

I sewed my words onto white wool felt, leaving spaces in between for cutting.

     

Carefully cut the words apart, leaving 1/4" of the felt on each side. Then, cut along each edge with pinking shears.

     

Measure and cut the gray felt 1/4" wider and longer than the white felt. Pin the word to the gray felt, and sew it on the BERNINA.

     

Beautiful!

     

Cut a second piece of gray felt (for backing) the same size as the one on the label, and layer a strap between the backing and the label. Pin them together and sew close to the edge of the gray felt, all the way around all four sides with the machine.

     

This is how the finished labels look, front and back.

     

Slip a label onto each jar and you are done!

     

Here are my jars, all neatly labeled. This was a fast and fun and practical project--I love it!