Pumpkin Keychain- Embroidery Tutorial
Hi crafting friends, it’s Samantha from Stitchin With Samantha! If you follow me on Instagram or keep up with my Etsy shop, you may have seen my embroidered keychains! Embroidery can be a very time-consuming hobby – my embroidery hoops take anywhere from 15-40 hours! Therefore, I was VERY excited when I discovered keychains. They are a relatively quick craft in the embroidery world and they make great gifts, whether for a friend or for yourself. Not sure where to start? Join me as I provide a step-by-step tutorial on my Fall Pumpkins Keychain!
Skill Level:
Intermediate – Beginner Friendly
Materials:
- Keychain Hardware
Lobster Claw Clasp – Amazon
Pendant Tray Base – Amazon
Connectors – Amazon
- Clover Gold Eye Embroidery Needles – Art No. 235
- Erasable pen – No. 5032
- Gorilla Glue
- Scissors
- Tassel Maker – Art No. 9940
- Embroidery Threader – Art No. 8611
- Cardstock paper
- DMC Thread – Joanns, Michaels, Hobby Lobby
- White Cotton Fabric
DMC Thread Colors:
- DMC 3827 (light orange)
- DMC 3776 (medium orange)
- DMC 3826 (dark/burnt orange)
- DMC 840 (brown)
Stitches to Know:
- Satin Stitch: You will start by knotting your thread at the end and pulling the thread through the fabric. You will then put the needle through the fabric creating a space between the locations and pull taunt. This is a great stitch for filling in space easily.
- Sparkle Stitch: The sparkle will be stitched in a series of satin stitches. You will start with a stitch across the horizontal line of the sparkle. Then you will use a stitch on the vertical line over that stitch. Then, You will proceed to use satin stitches vertically on either side of that stitch, each time getting shorter so that you form a sparkle.
- Running Stitch: You will start by entering your needle through the back of the fabric. You will then take your needle through the top of the fabric and then back through the bottom of the fabric in a fluid motion. You can decide how close together you would like to make your stitches, but they should be relatively close together while backing this piece because it’s a smaller embroidery project.
Getting Started
Prepping your backing: In order to prep your backing, you will cut out a circle of cardstock that will fit into the pendant tray base. I like to press the pendant into the back of the cardstock in order to get the true shape of the pendant. Then I will cut out the cardstock circle based on the mold.
Prepping your hoop: It’s almost time to move on to embroidering! In order to prep your hoop to embroider, you will first need white cotton fabric. I like to use two layers of fabric in order to enhance the overall look and avoid the piece being see-through.
Once your fabric is secured into the hoop, you will then use an erasable pen to outline the cardstock cut out. I used Clover’s Air Erasable Marker with Eraser.
Once the cardstock is outlined, then you will print off my Fall Pumpkins Pattern. You will need to print onto a standard 8.5 x 11in paper. (This pattern is found at the end of the article!)
Once you print out the pattern, you will tape it onto a window. Then you will hold your hoop flat on the window and trace the design with the Air Erasable Marker. The window will act as a lightbox allowing you to easily transfer my design.
Threading your needle: First, you will thread your needle by separating the number of strands you need. (This pattern uses 3 strands the whole time.) Once you have separated your strands, you will carefully pinch the end with your fingers and snake through the eye of your needle. You can also achieve this step quicker by using Clover’s Embroidery Threader. This tool helps you thread your needle more easily! Pull the thread through so that at least 5-6 inches of thread is hanging down.
Tying a knot: You will tie a knot at the longer end of your thread. Try to create a sturdy knot as close to the end as you can manage.
Stitching Guide
Body of the Pumpkins: The body of the pumpkins will be stitched with 3 strands of satin stitch. The left pumpkin will be stitched in DMC 3827, the middle pumpkin will be stitched in DMC 3826, and the right pumpkin will be stitched in DMC 3776.
You will use the satin stitch horizontally filling all 3 panels of each pumpkin from top to bottom.
Stem of the Pumpkins: The stem of the pumpkins will be stitched with 3 strands of satin stitch in DMC 840. You will use the satin stitch vertically filling in the stem. Then you will use one single satin stitch at the top of the stem horizontally to finish each stem off.
The sparkles: The sparkles will be stitched in sparkle stitch with DMC 3827.
First, you will take the embroidery out of the embroidery hoop and cut a circle around the marker lines, leaving about ¾ of an inch away from the marker circle. Then, you will use the eraser of the Air Erasable Marker to remove the marker circle and any visible marker left.
Backing the Embroidery
You will hold the cardstock on the back of the embroidery while you take your needle and use a running stitch along the edge of the embroidery. Once completed, you will pull tight and make sure to center the cardstock behind the embroidery. Then, you will create a knot with your thread so that the thread is secured tightly on the back. I like to triple-knot the back of the embroidery to make sure it’s extra secure.
Gluing the Embroidery
Once you have backed the embroidery, you will glue it into the keychain’s pendant base using Gorilla Glue. Fill the base with a thin layer of glue and press the embroidery in place. Hold down the embroidery tightly for 30 seconds to a minute, and then you can let go.
Assembling the Hardware
Once you have the embroidery glued into the base, you will start assembling the hardware. You will use various 1 medium-size and 3 small connectors to connect the base to the lobster claw clasp. The medium size connector will be used first on the pendant base and the smaller connectors will be on top connecting to the lobster claw clasp.
Adding the Tassel
The last step will be adding a tassel onto the keychain. For the project, I used Clover’s small tassel maker to assemble the tassel. The product contains instructions on how to achieve this look.
I trimmed the tassel to be about one inch long, and then I attached it to my keychain and triple-knotted it so that it wouldn’t fall off.
…and you are DONE!
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