If you've ever received a kit full of beautiful papers and embellishments and then spent a week wondering what on earth to do with it — this video is that moment, worked through out loud. I'm making a tag book from a design team kit: sewing pockets into a small journal so it can hold a collection of decorated tags, with the whole thing designed to sit open on a shelf as a piece of eye candy in its own right.
What we cover
This is a craft-along video following me from first idea to finished first tag. I walk through how I sewed pockets into the journal using a couple of different stitches, how I designed the concept around a 15-minutes-a-day creative practice, and then make the first tag live — including a moment where I glued an image upside down and had to decide what to do about it.
What you'll learn
How to sew pockets into a journal for tag storage — I take pairs of pages and run them through the sewing machine to create individual pockets across the whole journal. The middle signature gets a small gap because of how it sits; all the others close right to the edge. By the time the journal is done, there are 25 pockets in varying sizes.
Combining straight stitch and zigzag stitch for pocket seams, including:
- Straight stitch as the workhorse seam for most pockets
- Zigzag stitch added to some pockets for visual variety and texture
- Backstitching at the start and end of each seam to secure it
How to sew an image onto a tag card cleanly, with no visible stitches on the reverse, including:
- Sewing the image onto the front piece before attaching the backing
- Using white thread on the image, then black thread for the border, so each layer reads clearly
- Gluing the assembled front piece onto the bingo card base and finishing with a border stitch
Setting an eyelet by hand without a Crop-a-Dile — I punch the hole, set the eyelet with a basic eyelet setter, and use it as an anchor point for a hanging charm.
How to think through charm weight on a tag — I try a couple of options and talk through why a heavier charm can cause the tag to lean in the pocket, and why a lighter charm or a simple ball pin often works better.
How to incorporate a mistake into the design rather than starting over — the image ends up glued upside down. Rather than scrapping the card, I lean into it: the upside-down image becomes part of what the tag is about, paired with a sticker sentiment that plays off the idea of doing things your own way.
Using a bingo card as a tag base — the printed grid gives the tag structure and a ready-made surface, the clear back stays usable for journaling, and the whole thing fits neatly into a sewn pocket.
Tips & gotchas
There are no mistakes in this craft — genuinely. I say this in most of my videos because I mean it every time. The upside-down image in this tag could have been a ruined card. Instead it became the whole point of the tag. When something goes wrong, it forces you to think in a direction you wouldn't have chosen, and that's usually where the most interesting work happens. Welcome the mistakes.
Sew the image onto the front layer before you attach the backing. This is the order that matters: stitch the image down first, then glue the front piece onto your card base and sew the border. If you do it the other way around, your stitches from the image will show on the reverse side — and if you're keeping the back usable for journaling, that matters.
Watch the weight of anything you hang from a tag. I tried a heavier charm option and could already see how it would pull the tag over in the pocket. A small, lightweight charm — or a simple ball pin — keeps the tag sitting upright. If you love a heavier piece, consider where in the book the tag will live: a tag in a tighter pocket gets more support than one that hangs loose.
That's the whole idea behind the 15-minutes-a-day practice: the time commitment is small enough to actually keep, and over weeks it builds into something substantial. This first tag is deliberately simple; the later ones will layer up as I get deeper into the kit and into the rhythm of the project.
