Friday, January 3, 2014

First Sewing Project for 2014


As a school employee, I am required to wear an ID badge when at work for safety reasons.  Since I'm itinerant (assigned to 3 schools that I visit weekly), I have six work-related keys... three for office doors and three for the file cabinet in each office.

World's worst photo... sorry!

Because I wear this every day for 11 months, it's gotten a bit worn.... so it's past time for a new one.  Part of the delay was I loved this fabric and, not having anymore, had to decide on what fabric to use. 


To make a lanyard....  in case anyone would like to make one... all you need is a 2.5" strip of fabric, coordinating thread, and a 7/8th inch strip of batting.  


Press your fabric strip in half lenth-wise and then lay the batting along the fold line.


Fold the fabric edge over the batting and press.   Then pin the other side, folding under the raw edge.


Stitch 1/8th inch from the folded edges.  I do this by shifting the needle one notch to the right... my machine has this option... and using a regular presser foot.  This allows me to line up the folded edge with the inside of the foot and makes it easier to sew straight.


Repeat top-stitching on the other side.


You could sew the raw ends of the 2.5" strip together before inserting the batting but I prefer to wait to sew the ends together because... I attach the ends so that the folded edge of one end is matched with the folded-under-edges of the other end.  This makes the bottom of the lanyard to lie flat.   Hard to describe but I prefer it this way.

 

I use a D-ring to attach my ID badge and a plastic badge holder, which holds a card with PINs and other information related to work, including emergency contact info in case of an emergency.



In addition to three office keys and three file cabinet keys, I also carry a flash drive (I don't want to lose 15 years of templates and this year's work if my laptop goes down... like it did mid-September 2013!) and a pen.   Every thing I need for work so I don't have to load up my pockets or hunt for stuff in my purse.  

New year... new lanyard!   It's a good thing....



9 comments:

  1. And a very stylish new lanyard! Makes me wish I needed to make one! : )

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  2. Very pretty,

    My husband has to wear a lanyard every day but his is supplied as part of his uniform. Their lanyards have three break points in case a customer tries to strangle them!

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  3. Love the print for this year's lanyard. A color to match a kinds of outfits!
    Thanks for the tut.
    Hugs

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  4. Thanks for the tute! What beautiful Kaffe colors! This fabric pattern is either Paperweight or Roman Glass. Imma say Roman Glass. Love me some KF :-)

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  5. Good tutorial, and your new fabric is sure pretty! So, is that your first finish for 2014? That's pretty good!
    :-}pokey

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  6. Duh, so I notice the title of the post...talk about not noticing all the print ;-/

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  7. A very good thing and a very good tutorial.
    Lillian

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  8. Ooo- I may have to remember this for the teachers in my life. Thank you for the tutorial!

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