ID Badge Lanyard

On my to-do list of creativity is this fabric key chain. It's so cute and has made me think about all of the other strappy things you could make along those lines. My mind has been on teacher gifts lately, and I realized that a cute ID Badge Lanyard just might be perfect. Cute, huh?


I did mine a bit differently than The Idea Room's key chain--if you look at her tutorial, see where she folds over her fabric 1/4" and presses? I tend to steam my fingers when I do that (ouch).  So, I switched it up a bit.  Here's what you will need:

Two strips of coordinating fabric "cut to 1.5" x 40"
Two strips of interfacing 3/4" x 20"
One strip of 5/8" or 7/8" ribbon about 3-3.5" long
One rotating clip (I found these at JoAnns in a two pack)
Other clips will work, this is just what I had on hand. If you use different clips, make sure that the finished width of your strip will fit

Iron the interfacing onto the "wrong" side of one of your fabrics. Where one strip ends is where I start ironing the second strip. You can see that I didn't iron the interfacing perfectly straight. Just do your best. Then sew your two fabrics together with right sides together. I tend to sew with a seem allowance just bigger than 1/4", which works perfectly for my clip because I wanted its width to be a bit smaller than 1" finished. (Note: If you are really good at doing a 1/4" seam, you can start out with your strips at 1.25" instead of 1.5".)

Turn it right side out--I use a safety pin. Press it so it looks nice and clean and even and then top stitch down both sides to give it a finished look.

At this point, slip the hook onto your lanyard and line up the unfinished ends to overlap by about 1/4". You do not want it to be a perfect loop. Instead, there should be ONE twist (is it a half twist?) in the lanyard. When you have your fabrics connecting at the unfinished edges, one end will have fabric "A" face up and the other end will have fabric "B" face up (where my pin is up at the top in the picture). This will allow the lanyard to sit nicely when worn.

 Sew the 1/4" overlap with a zig zag. I did the zig zag stitch 2-3 times.

Now take your 3" of ribbon. You can seal the edges carefully with a lighter (or cut it with a woodburner, it's safer!). Position the buckle next to the zig zag seem. You are going to cover the seam with the ribbon.  Tuck both ends into the middle of the two pieces of the lanyard and pin (I pinned the top and bottom of the lanyard so the ribbon wouldn't slide). Sew the top and bottom of the ribbon--horizontal across the lanyard (make sure to back stitch so that it doesn't come apart).

 Voila!  A finished lanyard. The perfect accessory for your favorite teacher/accountant/social worker/nurse, etc.  When I was at school, people wore their dorm keys on these.  Does that still happen?  If so, maybe it's even a good graduation gift.  Oh, and trust me...mind mind is flying on all of the ways to accessorize these--ruffles, patchwork, etc.  So fun.  Good luck crafting!