Tutorial :: Key Fob

I had a little production line going last week making some key fobs. These are a brilliant way of using up fabric and wadding scraps and come together really quickly.  I have decided to do a tutorial because a few people asked for a pattern, plus it will help me when I come to make them again in a few months and have forgotten all the measurements!  I am certainly not the first person to do this and, of course, these could be made in varying dimensions to fit other hardware and different lengths.

So without further ado the tutorial:

1.  Take a look through your scraps and pick out those that are suitable.  The pieces need to be at least 4 1/4" x 1".

2.  I sorted them into colours but, of course, these key fobs could be made totally scrappy.

3.  Cut strips to 4 1/2".  The number will be dependent on the size of the fabric scraps you use, but you need the piece to be 10" long overall.

4.  Join together with 1/4" seam and press all the seams in one direction.

5.  Trim to 4 1/4" x 10" - I trim a little from each long side to get rid of all the threads ends to achieve a neat finish.

6.  Press in half.

7.  Fold the outer edges to the middle pressed line, ie in quarters, and press again.

8.  Cut your wadding to 1" x 10".

9.  Open up the fabric and place the wadding in one of the folded up quarters.

10.  Fold the fabric up again with the wadding inside.  There will be one fabric layer, one wadding layer and then three layers of fabric.

11.  Press again - I use cotton wadding and have steam on but beware if you are using polyester wadding!

12.  Hold together all the layers prior to sewing.  I used wonderclips but pins work just aswell (in fact you could just hold it all together but I like using my wonderclips!)

13.  Sew together with a straight stitch as close to the join as possible.  I increased my stitch length to 3 to get more defined stitches.

14.  Do some more straight lines to quilt it - this also gives it form.  When I made some last week I changed to a walking foot but today I didn't.  I have noticed a difference, especially over the seams where they have been pulled up a bit, so I would suggest you change to a walking foot if you want your seams to stay straight.

15.  Straighten up the ends and then clip the corners, on a very slight angle to get it to fit better into the hardware.

16.  Fold strap in half and place metal clasp on the ends.

17.  Once you are happy with the positioning of the strap you can press with your fingers to close it initially.

18.  You will then need to tighten it with pliers - place a piece of wadding onto the metal first to protect it.  You need to work from both sides to get a tight grip on the fabric.

19.  Attach split ring and you are done!!

I am very new to doing tutorials so if you do have a go at making one (some!) of these then please do let me know if there are any mistakes in the instructions!  I would also love to see any you have made so tag me in!

All of these are already earmarked for posting this week but I will certainly be making more as thank yous and stocking fillers. x

As this was made from scraps I am going to link up to Scraptastic Tuesday over at Mrs Sew and Sow.