We Built a Free Tool to Help You Get Label Placement Right

Every clothing designer eventually runs into the same small, annoying problem: you've got a beautiful woven label ready to sew in, and now you have to guess. Should it be a center fold or an end fold? How much seam allowance do you actually need so your logo doesn't get buried in the stitch line? Guess wrong, and you find out after the garment's already sewn — when it's too late to fix cheaply.

So we built a free tool to take the guesswork out of it: the Label Fold & Seam Allowance Calculator.

How It Works

Enter three things:

1. Where the label is sewn — center back neckline, side seam, waistband/hem, or an outside patch
2. Your fabric weight — lightweight, medium, or heavyweight
3. Your label width

And you'll instantly get:

• The recommended fold style (center fold, end fold, Manhattan fold, or a flat topstitched finish), with the reasoning behind it
• The ideal seam allowance in both inches and centimeters
• A safe margin to keep your logo clear of the stitch line entirely

It's built on standard patternmaking conventions — for example, a heavy wool coat collar gets a flat sewn-down label instead of a folded one, since a bulky fold against skin on heavy fabric is genuinely uncomfortable, while a lightweight jersey tee can handle a simple, low-bulk center fold with no issue.

Try the calculator here →

Why We Built This

We make clothing labels for a living, and we kept hearing the same question from designers ordering from us — "what fold should I actually pick?" A calculator felt more useful than another blog post explaining fold types in the abstract. This is a genuinely free tool with no login, no email gate, and no catch — we just think it's useful for anyone sewing labels into garments, whether you buy your labels from us or not.

Want to Feature This Tool on Your Site?

If you run a sewing blog, teach pattern-making, or moderate a design community, you're welcome to embed the live calculator directly on your own page — not just link to it. Paste this code wherever you'd like it to appear:

The attribution line below the embed is the only thing we ask stays intact — it's how your readers (and search engines) know where the tool came from.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this calculator really free to use? Yes — no account, no email required, and no limit on how many times you use it.

Does this replace testing an actual sample? No — think of it as a strong starting point based on standard patternmaking practice. We'd still always recommend sewing a physical sample before running a full production batch, since exact results can vary slightly by machine, thread tension, and how your specific fabric behaves.

Can I suggest a feature or fold type that's missing? Absolutely — reach out and let us know. We built this to be genuinely useful, and that means it can keep improving.

Do I need to buy labels from Sean Label to use this? Not at all. It's a free resource for anyone working with garment labels, regardless of where you source them.

Ready to put your calculated specs into action? Browse our custom woven labels or pre-made stock labels to get your labels made.