Laughing Zebra Studios: Key Fob/Lanyard Tutorial

So what do you do with that ginormous pile of odds and ends you have left over from your latest most brilliant project?

You turn it into something small and cute and useful, of course! Then you either attempt to sell it on Etsy or give it away as gifts to everyone you know. The following project is for making key fobs/lanyards. You can make them in any length. If they are short they are fobs. If they are long they are lanyards. Easy. You pick the length and the style of hardware you put on the end. Instead of the "clam shell" clasps I have used here, you can sub in D-rings or key rings instead.

For this project you will need some of the above scraps, any flavor or color, interfacing, and some hardware to hang a key, id badge or whatever on. For interfacing, I use a lot of Pellon Décor Bond 809. There are always a zillion scraps of this that I can't bear to throw out.

I cut the fabric into 4 inch wide strips which I fold in half and iron. Then I cut 2 strips of fusible interfacing into 7/8 inch wide strips which are shorter than your fabric by 3/4” on each end.

I fuse the interfacing to the fabric along that center fold. Making the interfacing in two pieces makes a crisper fold along the edge which is easier to fold and also gives you some fudge factor when ironing.When using fusibles I always use a pressing cloth to protect my ironing board surface and my iron, which is harder to clean! Here I used a product called "Goddess Sheets" available at your local sewing or quilting center.

I iron each edge to the inside and then iron both together. You get the idea!

Then I top stitch along the edges. I use a width that aligns with a convenient mark on my presser foot! (See below!) Easy. Your presser foot may have a similar convenient mark. I think mine measures at something less than 1/4” and more than 1/8”, likely a European metric invention. Be sure to lengthen the stitch length. This will make it look prettier. On a European machine the regular stitch length is 2.2. Increase this to 2.6 or so.

Next I slide the clasp/D-ring/key ring hardware or whatever onto the fabric. Make sure that the hardware and the good side of the fabric are both facing to the inside.

Sew the ends together at a ¼ to 3/8 “ seam allowance. Go back and forth several times for added strength. This is where that previous step where you made the interfacing shorter than the pretty fashion fabric comes in handy. There will be less bulk at this point and it will handle better.

Turn the project inside (good side) out. Slide your hardware to the end and arrange the seam so it's about 1 inch in from the end and open this seam out flat.