So spending one too many hours perusing Pinterest, I cam across a nifty little tutorial on a fabric keychain, it was super cute and reminded me of Vera Bradley. Well of course I had to try it out and see if it was as simple as it looked. And YES it was. The hardest/longest part of these keychains was the ironing. That seemed to take forever, but the rest of it went by very quickly. If you are only making one of these then you are looking at less than 30 minutes start to finish. Cost is dependent on the fabric you choose, but if you are like me, you have scraps and this project really only needs scraps. You will need to purchase purse clips, I found them on sale half off at Joann’s fabric, so two packages for $2.99. I would estimate the total of each keychain to be in the neighborhood of $2.00 or less to make.
You can view the original tutorial here – http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/2011/04/wrist-key-chains.html
Materials:
- Two strips of fabric 13″ long and 2.75″ wide
- One strip of interfacing 12″ long and .75″ wide
- One purse clip
- Coordinating Ribbon 4″
- Coordinating Thread
First, cut your fabric so that you have a strip of each material that measures 2.75 (2 and 3/4) inches by 13 inches. Cut 1 strip of your fusible interfacing to measure .75 inches by 12 inches.
Iron both strips of coordinating fabrics a 1/4 of an inch down both sides with the right-side of the fabric face down on your ironing board.
When both fabrics have been ironed, fold the material in half length-wise and iron. Be careful to match the edges up nicely.
Take your strip of fusible interfacing and place it evenly between your two coordinating fabrics. I make sure the folds of each ironed fabric are on opposite sides.
Iron these together. This will temporarily fuse the top and bottom materials together so they are easier to sew, and will make your keychain a little sturdier.
Now sew along both edges of the key chain. I sewed mine fairly close to the edge which was about an 1/8 inch seam.
Now, take your purse clip and slide it onto the key chain. Be sure that the clip is on top of the material you want to be on the outside of your key chain. Place the two raw edges so that one is overlapping the other one about 1/4 of an inch (or to the fusible interfacing).
Sew these together using a zig-zag stitch several times back and forth so that it does not come apart.
Take your strip of 4 inch ribbon and burn the edges with a lighter or a match to seal it so they do not unravel. Do this very carefully! Move the purse clip around the key chain until the seam is about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch above the clip. Take the ribbon and wrap it around the area where the two ends have been sewn together. Tuck both ends of the ribbon to the inside of the key chain.
Pin in place and sew the top and bottom of the ribbon. I changed my thread color so it matched the ribbon and was less noticeable. Remember to reinforce your seam. I went over it twice so it will hold up.
And now you are all done!
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