Leather Luggage Tag Instructions

1 - Check you have everything in your kit 

1. Pre-cut and Punched Leather Pieces
2. 3 x Canvas Cloth for burnishing & protecting
3. 2 x Binder Clips to help you stitch
4. 2 x Colours of Handmade Waxed Thread
5. 1 x Keyring Loop
6. 2 x Sewing Needles
7. 1 x sam brown
8. 1 x plastic window

You will also need:

• Small pair of scissors
• A little pot of water
• Your quality time, 1-2 hours
•  Lined paper card cut to size (or download a template here).

2 - Measure the thread.

Your Luggage has 2 stitching sections, so you will need to cut 2 Lengths of thread. Start by choosing the thread colour that you would like to stitch with, then measure and cut the 1 x 30cm, 1 x 100cm of wax thread.

3 - Burnish the edges.

Burnish the edges of the leather pieces shown here.

*Top Tip* 

Use a cotton bud for extra precision when wetting the edge so as not to damage the leather surface.

4 - Thread the needles.

• A. Thread the eye of the needle with the 100cm piece of thread. 

• B. Pull through 6-8cm of thread and then pierce the thread.

• C. Pierce the thread again at 1cm distance along the long piece of thread.

• D. Holding the needle tip, pull down the entire thread. This is called locking the needle.

• E. Follow steps A-D with the other end of the thread and second needle.

5 - Place pieces together.

Place front and back pieces together lining up the stitch holes before clipping in place. 

6 - Bar Tack

Start your stitch by creating a bar tack, do this by sewing the same looping stitch 3x at the top edge - this will strengthen the join. 

7 - Use saddle stitch.

• A. With your left hand, take the needle from one side of your luggage tag and pass it through the next hole. You will be stitching along the piece towards yourself.

• B. Pull this needle through, leaving a loop of thread about 10cm long on the side.

• C. Take the second needle and push it through the same hole as the first. Avoid piercing the thread as you do this and pull the other thread tightly to the side as this will help.

• D. Pull both needles away from the leather to form a tight stitch. Repeat this for every stitch hole. 

8 - Secure the stitches.

At the end of the stitching section, loop the thread around 3 times to create a bar tack (as at the beginning of the stitch section).

Stitch back 2 stitches. Take your needle from the back side and go along 1 more thread, this will bring both threads out on the underside of your language tag. 

9 - Cut the threads.

Cut the thread as close to the hole as possible and tuck away any visible ends with the back side of your needle. 

10 - Fold and Clip

Fold the small tab of leather in half and clip in place. 

11 - Stitch the tab.

Re-thread the needle with 30cm of thread and repeat steps 6-9 with the line of stitching on the tab.

12 - Burnish.

Burnish newly joined edges of the tag and small loop.

13 - Attach the sam browne.

Attach the Sam Browne to the leather strap by placing the stud part on top of the hole on the strap and screwing it in place from behind. 

14 - Take some lined paper or card and cut it to the size of the plastic window. Write your contact details on the right side. 

*Don’t forget to leave margins so no text gets cut off*

Place this inside the luggage tag with the plastic window on top. 

15 - Thread the strap.

Thread the strap through the two slots in the top of the tag.

16 - Loop the strap around and thread through the small stitched loop, closing the strap using the sam browne.

Voila! Congratulations - you have now finished your personally crafted .Ar:ti|sans Luggage Tag! Why not travel with a matching handmade Passport Holder or Glasses Case too?

We would love to see your creation! Share it with us and our crafting community so we can celebrate your leathercraft dexterity. Tag us @artisans.life on Instagram (using the hashtag #artisanslife), drop us an email or leave us a review on our website to tell us what you enjoyed most about the making experience.

P.S. Did you recognise our Keyring Kit wrapped in your thread? Now you can now practice your leathercraft skills further by crafting your very own leather keyring! Click here to access the Keyring Craft Kit instructions blog.