Pack pals/ keychains for Alastair and his friends. I’m pleased to report that my keychain tutorial is posted at Brother’s website. Any of these links will take you there.
I’m pleased to report that my keychain tutorial is now posted at Brother’s website. Any of the links at the end of this post will take you there.
Apparently, I was not very clear about the felt.  A reader wrote with some questions, asking if she needed to buy from a bolt. My answers/comments are:
 I just buy the felt sheets at WalMart, JoAnn’s or Michaels. They are 9×12″ or 12 x 18″. The smaller soft ones run about $.25 each and the larger stiff ones about $.59.  Of course, you could use some by-the-yard felt, but I don’t think that comes in the stiff weight.Â
When I first got on this jag, I used soft for both with a cutaway stabilizer for the first hooping. But then I could not get rid of the stabilizer beyond the outline and had to color it with a sharpie. Still, the keychain was too floppy to suit me. So I went with the stiff stuff.Â
You can use stiff for both layers, but with my stiff hands, it is hard to cut through two layers of that. Now I always use stiff for the top but when I can’t find matching colored soft felt, I use stiff for both.
When I first heard about these keychains, I too was puzzled about their attachment to the backpacks. I discovered that they just loop over the hanger loop with the embroidered piece slipping through the loop or over the wider shoulder strap.  That is why you need such a long loop. I’m guessing backpack straps are about 2″ wide, so that uses up 4″ of the ribbon loop. Then the embroidery has to fit through the remaining opening.
A second tutorial for other machines was to be posted at this time.  But a wicked case of bronchitis and life in general got in the way. I expect you know how that happens. But it will be posted soon.
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