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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