Lanyard Tutorial!

hi guys!


Got Craft? is less than a week away now, and i have a ridiculous pile of keychains taking over my sewing table - i made way more than i needed to, but i couldn't decide which fabrics to use!


it's obviously cutting it hella close for another tutorial, but for those of you playing along at home, i wanted to post about the lanyards we've been making. they're great stocking stuffers, or quick gifts for coworkers (i made 15 xmas themed lanyards one year), and they're a fun way to include a bit of your favourite quilting fabrics in your day to day life!





calling this a tutorial is a bit of a lie, honestly, cause lanyards are the same as keychains, minus the interfacing, just made with longer strips of fabric.


to make a lanyard you need:
3.25" x WOF strip of fabric (Width Of Fabric usually works out to about 40")
a key ring
matching thread


that's it, easy peasy! just follow the keychain tutorial, skipping the interfacing step. i chose not to use it in these, though you could use a lightweight if you wanted. i don't find interfaced lanyards comfy, so i didn't bother. and if you wanted to make a fancier lanyard, you could use 3.25" wide pieces of fabric and piece together your 40" length!


i've seen a lot of lanyards around using fancy hooks that twirl, and i have to say, as someone who wore a lanyard every day for work for years, i HATE the fancy hooks. the main benefit of them seems to be that they twirl, which you think is cool, but it's actually a huge pain in the ass. much like how toast always lands jelly side down, your ID tag is always backwards whenever someone wants to see it. always!


i've also seen some lanyards that are shorter, and while i do like the way they look visually, i prefer the 40" length if you work at a desk, so that your tag isn't right at the height of your keyboard. if you wear a short lanyard and lean forward too often, your plastic ID tag will eventually break in half. ask me how i know!


we decided to use the key rings for the craft fair for multiple reasons. one, because they're cheap. the best price i found was at michaels (and yes, i'm just as surprised as you are! using a 40% off coupon, they ended up being really reasonable.) because folks were making everything for the craft fair out of their own stash, we didn't want to make everyone buy fancy hooks and two, on a similar note, key rings are readily available, whereas to get a decent price on hooks, we'd have had to order them online. the only places i found them locally were sold in packs of one or two at fabric stores, and they were too pricey. with the key rings, members could pick them up at michaels, at walmart, at tandy leather, at dollar stores, etc.


for the lanyards we're selling, we're including these plastic snap thingys that hold an ID tag, because i happened to have a ton of them in my stash. if you're making them yourself, you probably have a thingy on your old lanyard, or you can get whatever variation works best for your tags from your workplace. our security office always seemed to have tons of them!





so that's my non-tutorial for lanyards. for something so basic, i've apparently put a lot of thought into them!

Fabric Keychain Tutorial!

keychains! who doesn't need another keychain? especially a CUTE keychain?


honestly guys, we're making these because everyone else seems so gung ho about them, not because i really needed another keychain.... and then an hour ago i found myself thinking, "i should've made myself one to match my outfit, that would've been so handy tonight..." ha! now i'm thinking that it would be so handy to have one of these for the laundry room, and maybe one for the storage shed, since i'm always paranoid that i'll set the keys down and lock them in.... and maybe one for the mailbox key...


You'll need:
3.25” x 12.5” piece of fabric
0.75” x 12.5” piece of medium to heavyweight iron-on interfacing
key ring
matching thread for topstitching
standard sewing supplies, including a blind hem foot, a quarter inch foot and a foot suitable for zigzag


(the length is flexible – I wouldn’t go much smaller than 12”, because it might not fit over some people’s hands, but 13” or 13.5” would work)


Step 1 – Cut your piece of fabric and your piece of medium to heavyweight iron-on interfacing



Step 2 – Press fabric in half lengthwise.



Step 3 – Unfold, press edges in to centre fold line. You can see that your strip is now divided into 4 lengthwise areas.



Step 4 – Unfold one side. Press interfacing to the second area from the edge, butting it up against the centre fold.



Step 5 – Fold that side back up


and fold the strip into half again. Press it well.


STOP! Thread your key ring onto the folded strip. Do it now, before you forget! You can’t do it after the next steps!


Step 6 – Unfold the ends, and pin the two short ends together, lining up the fold lines.


STOP! Did you thread your key ring on? Last chance!


Step 7 – Using your quarter inch foot and a short stitch length, sew the short ends together. Lengthen your stitch length back to normal now, before you forget!



Step 8 – Press the seam open.



Step 9 – Fold the strip along the centre fold line. The interfaced side is going to seem shorter than the non-interfaced side, so we have to ease them together. Start by placing four pins, one in each quadrant of the circle, spreading the fullness equally between the pins.


Add 4 more pins between the first ones, easing the fullness. Looks better, doesn't it?



Step 10 – Blind hem foot magic! Lay the band interfaced side up, and starting right before or after the seam, topstitch closely along the open edge of the band. RANDOM SEWING TIP – when you have two pieces that are slightly different in length and you need to sew them together to the same length (sleeves, quilt borders, etc), put the longest side down, and the feed dogs will help ease the extra in. That’s why you’re sewing this with the shorter (interfaced) side up. More sewing magic!



Step 11 – Before you topstitch all the way around, stop and look at where you started. You’ll want to trim your threads now, so that you’ll get a neater finish later, but you also want to check that your bobbin thread didn't make a little big of a mess when you backstitched.


If it did, like in the picture, trim that off. Don’t worry about the stitches coming undone, you’ll catch them again when you get back around to that spot and backstitch.



Step 12 – Once you've topstitched the open edge, flip the band around and topstitch the folded edge. In these photos, my stitch length is very small – yours doesn't need to be! I forgot to change mine after I sewed the ends together, and rather than have two different stitch lengths on the same band, I just left it. Consistency is the key to looking good!



Step 13 – Take the topstitched band and fold it in half, with your keyring at one end. You’ll want the seam to be about ¾” from the fold. Pin the two layers together.



Step 14 – Switch to your regular sewing foot or a zigzag foot. Using a short stitch length, sew a straight stitch just below your seam. Don’t worry about backstitching, and when you get to the end of your seam, LEAVE YOUR NEEDLE DOWN!


See how I’ve pivoted to show you my straight stitching, but I haven’t cut my threads, and my needle is still in the fabric?



Step 15 – Still with your needle down, switch over to a zigzag stitch.


Select a very short stitch length and a wide stitch length. I’m using the widest my machine will do. (ignore the dust on my machine!)


Sew a wide zigzag stitch across the band, covering your seam and your straight stitching.


I’ve raised my foot to show you my stitches – see how one end has more coverage?


Step 16 – Backstitch and sew forward repeatedly, until you get consistent coverage with your zigzags. When you’ve finished zigzagging and are at one end of your sewing, leave your needle down.



Step 17 – Still with your needle down, switch back to straight stitch.


Still on the very short stitch length, pivot your fabric and stitch down the side of the bar of zigzags. If you need to, you can even stitch over a few zigzag stitches. Don’t worry about backstitching, your stitches are so tiny that they’re secure.


I know this seems like extra work, but it’s basically impossible to secure zigzag stitching and still have it look neat. If we didn’t do the lines of small straight stitch at the beginning and end of the zigzags, the threads would work themselves loose, like they’re starting to do here -



Step 18 – You are done!!! Don’t you feel satisfied?!




As usual, i love questions and comments! Did everything make sense?

Gift Card Holder tutorial!

You might have been made aware by the racks of them at the grocery store and the displays everywhere you go, but in case you missed it, gift cards are fast becoming a popular holiday gift. They show more effort and thought than cash in a card, and they allow the giver to have a bit more control over how the “money” is spent by the recipient. My grandma tells the grandkids every year - “don’t spend your Christmas money on booze or cigarettes” (and for me specifically, she adds “or thrift stores!”).


For instance, if you have a dad like mine, he’d really rather buy his own tools, when they’re on sale, of course, so we buy him gift cards to places like Canadian Tire, Home Depot or Princess Auto. It isn't that we don’t care enough to buy him a present; it’s that he’s impossible to shop for! And even though my mom is fun and easy to shop for or to sew for, her Christmas wouldn't be complete without at least one Starbucks gift card.

Sometimes a gift card is really what the recipient wants, and that’s okay. I’d much rather save the handmade gift for someone who will appreciate it, and buy my brother a gift card instead. And I’d much rather my aunt give me a gift card than the holiday pack of scented body products that she loves, but that give me a headache!


For crafty folks, a gift card in an envelope seems like a cop-out, doesn't it? Gift card holders can be a nice touch, a way to reflect the recipient’s personality or likes, and they look so much nicer in the Christmas tree than the standard white envelopes grandma does every year! These holders come together really nicely, and can be reused for next year’s gifts, or even to hold business cards or loyalty cards throughout the year. (if you're making these specifically to hold business cards, you might want to add a layer of interfacing for extra strength)


You’ll need:
2 pieces of fabric 7.5” x 4.5” (lining and outer)
1 piece 5.5” x 2.5” for the strap.
Matching thread
Knitting needle or some other blunt-but-pointy object
Standard sewing supplies, including a blind hem foot and a quarter inch foot


*a note about fabric selection - Paul has already made a ton of these using more "masculine" fabrics, mostly greens and blues. if you're making them for the craft fair, please chose other colours so we'll have lots of variety. feel free to use holiday fabrics!*


Step 1 – Cut out three pieces of fabric. Two main pieces 7.5” x 4.5” (lining and outer) and one piece 5.5” x 2.5” for the strap. Your strap should contrast nicely with your main fabric, I like to use the same fabric for the strap as for the lining.

(You could also use something fancier for the strap, such as ribbon, twill tape, or a selvedge strip, but you’ll need to fudge the 2.5" measurement to match what you use. I’ll leave that up to you!)


Step 2 – take the strap piece and press in half


Step 3 – open it up, and press the edges towards the fold


Step 4 – press it in half again, enclosing the raw edges, and pin the strap so
that it doesn't come unfolded.


Step 5 – remember the blind hem foot magic from the bunting tutorial? We’re doing that again! Using your blind hem foot, topstitch closely along the open side of the strap, removing the pins as you go.


Step 6 – when you get to the end, flip the strap and topstitch down the folded edge.


Step 7 – trim your strap length to 5”. We started with a slightly longer strap because with fiddly stuff like this, your sewing machine will often grab at the ends, or the topstitching might be a bit wonky to start, so this way we can neaten it up. Trim .5” off one end, or .25” off each end, whichever you need to do. Set aside your finished strap for now.


Step 8 – take the two remaining fabric pieces and match the short ends.


Step 9 – using a 1/4” foot, sew the short end of the fabrics together and press the seam allowance to one side.


Step 10 – press the seam again, this time flipping one of the fabrics to the back, so that the pieces are wrong sides together.


Step 11 – topstitch!


Step 12 – take your strap and pin the ends .5” below the topstitched edge. Your strap won’t lay flat, because it’s .5” longer than the width of the fabric – but it’s supposed to be, so don’t worry! Sew the straps at the edges, staying within the seam allowance so that your stitches won’t show later. Basically, you’re just basting the strap into place so that it won’t wiggle around in the next few steps.


Step 13 – going through the top layer of fabric only, place a pin horizontally into each side, 2.25” down from the topstitched seam.


Step 14 –fold the upper fabric back on itself, right sides together, along the pins. Fold the lower fabric back on itself the same way.


Step 15 – this is what you’ll have, two separate folds of fabric side by side. This sounds confusing, I know, but it works really slick, and is easier than it sounds!


Step 16 – once you’ve folded both sides back, you’ll be left with a squareish shape that has two folds on one end, and multiple layers of fabric enclosed within it. pin around the edges of the square. Don’t forget to leave an opening opposite the fold (on the edge that is only two pieces of fabric)! I usually sew about 1” from the ends, leaving the space between open.


Step 17 – using your quarter inch foot again, sew around the open edges of the square (not the edge with the folds!)


Step 18 – see? Three sides sewn, with an opening for turning opposite the folded edges.


Step 19 – trim the corners, being careful not to cut your seams.


Step 20 – using a knitting needle or some other blunt-but-pointy object, turn right side out through the opening you left. Magic!


Step 21 – press the right side out holder flat, taking care to fold under the edges of the opening neatly.


Step 22 – back to the blind hem foot! Topstitch along the edges of the flap. You’ll start sewing just above the topstitched seam, go around the corner, enclosing the opening , turn the corner again, and stop just before the topstitched seam.


Step 23 – did that sound confusing? Here’s a view from the back. You’re basically sewing a C shape. A very graphic, linear C!


Step 24 – that’s it, you’re done! Put a gift card in the case, slip the flap under the strap (tongue twister, there), and it’s ready to give! Isn't that nicer than a cardboard sleeve?



Remember how we cut the strap longer than the width of the fabric pieces? If you cut the strap the same as the main pieces, there won’t be enough space for the flap to slip in, and it won’t lay flat. Like this super cute gift card holder that I made first… Learn from my mistakes folks!




i'm linking this up to Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story, so if you're visiting from there, you won't know that the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild is participating in a craft fair, and i've been posting a series of tutorials for our members to follow for the merchandise that we'll be selling. so far i've posted Mini Bunting and Needlebooks, and there will be more to come!