If you are looking for a way to keep your children entertained for hours on end so that you can enjoy some quiet time catching up on your soaps, I'm here to help. Here is a how to tutorial to make a felt key chain. My tutorial will teach you to make a watermelon slice, but obviously you can adjust it slightly to make whatever item you like. All pictures throughout blog are not drawn to scale, only to show what is being explained.
What you'll need:
- Two sheets of 9" x 9" felt - one in a lime green and one in cerise
- Two skeins of embroidery thread - one to match the cerise felt fabric (I recommend this colour so it contrasts with the green felt fabric, but if you want it to blend in you can use a skein of embroidery silk to match the green felt) and a black embroidery silk to sew on the seeds
- A packet of dressmaking pins (I would recommend our Prym Straight Dressmakers Pins)
- Tailors Chalk
- A ruler
- One key chain ring - which can be bought in store at
Calico Laine
- A small piece of 4 oz wadding
- An embroidery needle
Step 1
Firstly, fold both of your felt squares in half (this way you only need to draw one quadrant, a quarter circle) and using your tailors chalk, draw out two quadrants on the green felt with the tallest part of it being 3" and two quadrants, slightly smaller with the tallest part being 2" on the, folded, cerise felt square - use your ruler to make sure the sizes are correct. Once you have done this you can cut them out, knowing that both of the green and both of the cerise quadrants will match!
Step 2
Next you will need to place the cerise quarter circles on top of the green so that the points sit
together and the green is only showing on the top inch - using your dressmaking pins pin the felt pieces in place. If you don't want your child using the pins as they are sharp, as long as the felt is pinched together it should not move off each other, and then whichever way you wish to hold the felt together you then need to do a simple running stitch across the top of the cerise felt using the matching embroidery silk (as pictured to the right).
Step 3
Once you have done this to both green and cerise felt quadrants, you will need to use your black embroidery thread and sew four tear drop shapes across the top half of both cerise pieces (as pictured to the left). Then below these four tear drop shapes you need to sew 14-17 small black stitches to appear like more tiny seeds (this is shown in the first picture).
Step 4
With all the above done, it is now time to cut out your quadrant of 4 oz wadding. You will need to
make it just smaller than the cerise felt pieces as you need to give a seam allowance for the blanket stitch that will hold the whole thing together. After you have cut out your wadding, I would strongly suggest using just three or four pins to hold it together (pictured right), you will need to place the wadding in-between the felt pieces.
Step 5
Now you need to use your matching cerise embroidery silk - or if you have chosen to match it to the lime green felt, your green embroidery silk, and do a simple blanket stitch all the way around the edge of your felt watermelon.
Step 6
All that is left to do is attach your keychain so that you are all to attach it to your keys. This can be done using the black or cerise embroidery thread and tying it around the key chain ring, leaving a loop of thread - so that it dangles and then sewing it to the felt watermelon piece. You should now be looking at a watermelon key chain!
You can also make large felt objects to act as cushions, all you would need to do is use bigger felt squares! If you have felt inspired to make one of these key chains we would love to see them, so why not post them to our Facebook page, or you can tag us on instagram!
If you are looking for a way to keep your children entertained for hours on end so that you can enjoy some quiet time catching up on your soaps, I'm here to help. Here is a how to tutorial to make a felt key chain. My tutorial will teach you to make a watermelon slice, but obviously you can adjust it slightly to make whatever item you like. All pictures throughout blog are not drawn to scale, only to show what is being explained.
What you'll need:
- Two sheets of 9" x 9" felt - one in a lime green and one in cerise
- Two skeins of embroidery thread - one to match the cerise felt fabric (I recommend this colour so it contrasts with the green felt fabric, but if you want it to blend in you can use a skein of embroidery silk to match the green felt) and a black embroidery silk to sew on the seeds
- A packet of dressmaking pins (I would recommend our Prym Straight Dressmakers Pins)
- Tailors Chalk
- A ruler
- One key chain ring - which can be bought in store at Calico Laine
- A small piece of 4 oz wadding
- An embroidery needle
Step 1
Firstly, fold both of your felt squares in half (this way you only need to draw one quadrant, a quarter circle) and using your tailors chalk, draw out two quadrants on the green felt with the tallest part of it being 3" and two quadrants, slightly smaller with the tallest part being 2" on the, folded, cerise felt square - use your ruler to make sure the sizes are correct. Once you have done this you can cut them out, knowing that both of the green and both of the cerise quadrants will match!
Step 2
Next you will need to place the cerise quarter circles on top of the green so that the points sit 
together and the green is only showing on the top inch - using your dressmaking pins pin the felt pieces in place. If you don't want your child using the pins as they are sharp, as long as the felt is pinched together it should not move off each other, and then whichever way you wish to hold the felt together you then need to do a simple running stitch across the top of the cerise felt using the matching embroidery silk (as pictured to the right).
Step 3
Once you have done this to both green and cerise felt quadrants, you will need to use your black embroidery thread and sew four tear drop shapes across the top half of both cerise pieces (as pictured to the left). Then below these four tear drop shapes you need to sew 14-17 small black stitches to appear like more tiny seeds (this is shown in the first picture).
Step 4
With all the above done, it is now time to cut out your quadrant of 4 oz wadding. You will need to 
make it just smaller than the cerise felt pieces as you need to give a seam allowance for the blanket stitch that will hold the whole thing together. After you have cut out your wadding, I would strongly suggest using just three or four pins to hold it together (pictured right), you will need to place the wadding in-between the felt pieces.
Step 5
Now you need to use your matching cerise embroidery silk - or if you have chosen to match it to the lime green felt, your green embroidery silk, and do a simple blanket stitch all the way around the edge of your felt watermelon.
Step 6
All that is left to do is attach your keychain so that you are all to attach it to your keys. This can be done using the black or cerise embroidery thread and tying it around the key chain ring, leaving a loop of thread - so that it dangles and then sewing it to the felt watermelon piece. You should now be looking at a watermelon key chain!
You can also make large felt objects to act as cushions, all you would need to do is use bigger felt squares! If you have felt inspired to make one of these key chains we would love to see them, so why not post them to our Facebook page, or you can tag us on instagram!