Finishing Your Own Key Fob at Home!

H here!

One of my favorite things to stitch out is a key fob. It's quick, easy, and always something that you could gift or use yourself!

This past summer, I learned how to finish my own key fobs and I want to share my process with you.

Materials you'll need:

+ 18 mesh canvas

+ Perle Cotton size 5 - I recommend one full skein for the background color, plus any needed for a design

+ a needle

+ a pen of your choice

+ scissors - I used both thread scissors and heavy-duty craft scissors in this project

+ masking tape or bias tape

+ Elmer's glue, Fray Check, or Mod Podge to seal in your edges

+ 1.25-inch webbing, about 9 to 11 inches long

+ 1.25-inch hardware for the key fob

+ key fob pliers or normal pliers and hammer with a towel

+ Clover clips - recommended but not an absolute need

+ a sewing machine with clear thread

Instructions:

+ Lay your 18 mesh canvas on a flat surface. With your pen, mark 19 stitches down and create two lines, one on the top and one on the bottom. These 19 stitches will be the height of the fob. Extend the two lines to the desired length of the loop fob. I typically measure 7 to 9 inches depending on my desired pattern and size. Connect all of the lines and create a rectangle. From each edge, make a mark approximately 12 stitches in. The first few stitches will be covered by the hardware, so do not put any crucial designs inside the opening and closing 12 stitches.

+ If desired, draw or paint your pattern. Cut your canvas and leave 1.5 to 2 inches of empty space around all edges. Tape off the edges or hand stitch some bias tape around to prevent snags.

+ With your background color, continental stitch the border. This will make it easier for you when you use the binding stitch on the edges of your fob.

+ Stitch your fob design.

+ After stitching in your design, use the binding stitch on your lengths of your stitched canvas. This is my favorite video tutorial on how to use the binding stitch! I recommend using Clover Clips to keep the edge folded as you stitch. Just clip the canvas down about 2 inches from when you are stitching and move it as you go! It makes it such a smoother process when you use clips. You do not need to use the edging stitch on the short edges of the canvas. Trim the excess canvas so there are 3 unstitched rows underneath the fabric on each edge.

+ Cut your 1.25-inch webbing to be about two inches longer than your canvas. Using Clover Clips, clip your stitched canvas onto the center of your webbing. It does not need to be exact.

+ Using a sewing machine with clear thread, stitch your canvas to your webbing on all four edges. Try and stitch as close to the binding stitch as possible, with the stitching on the inside of the canvas. Trim the excess edges of your webbing on the widths of your fob so that the stitched fob edge will match with the webbing edge. I recommend leaving one final bar of canvas just outside of the stitched piece on the widths to preserve those edge stitches. They'll be covered by the hardware.

+ Dab a little bit of Elmer's glue, mod podge, or fray check on the edge of the fob and canvas to help seal the canvas and webbing together. This will be covered by the hardware.

+ Loop the fob and match the edges together. Using the metal hardware and either the pliers or hammer, bend the hardware together with the stitched fob sandwiched inside. If you do not have the special key fob pliers, I recommend using a normal pair of pliers, a hammer, and a towel to wrap around the metal hardware to limit damage.

Happy Stitching!

-H