Fabric Lanyard Tutorial

Written By Natasha Merwin
5 vibrant coloured (2 orange, pink, light blue and cream print) fabric lanyards with matte black hardware sitting on a gray cutting mat.

Turn your fabric scraps into function. These lanyards are easy to sew and perfect for keeping your badge or keys close.

Overview

These fabric lanyards come together in no time and are perfect for using your leftover width of fabric scraps. Not only are they handy for events and conferences, but they make great teacher gifts or stocking stuffers for anyone. Once you make one, you’ll definitely want to make a few more!

A photo of supplies needed including fabric, fusible fleece and hardware

Supply list

What you’ll need:

  • 3” x 36” piece of cotton fabric (I used Ruby Star Society fabrics from various collections)

  • ⅝” x 35” piece of fusible fleece

  • A 1” swivel hook hardware piece

  • General sewing notions (sewing machine, rotary blade, cutting mat, ruler, pin/clips, cotton thread, iron, zipper foot etc.)

Step-by-step instructions

Prepping your fabric

Begin by ironing your fabric piece. Fold fabric in half lengthwise, wrong sides together. Press.

The fabric piece sitting on ironing board showing the pressed center piece

Open fabric, use the newly pressed centerline as a guide. Fold both sides of fabric inward to meet the midline and press.

The fabric demonstrating how to press the fabric towards the centreline to incase raw edges.

Unfold fabric.

The fabric unfolded completely to demonstrate where the 3 pressed creases should sit

Adhere the fusible fleece to fabric with iron, following the manufacture instructions. Attach fusible fleece below the middle pressed line. Leave it a ½” shorter on either side, to reduce bulk at the seam.

A photo of the fabric with the strip of fusible fleece attached to the fabric and one side pressed to the midline

Refold both the top and bottom back towards the middle to meet. Then fold in half. You will now have all the raw edges encased.

Don’t forget -- Thread the swivel hook onto the fabric.

The fabric folded and clipped together with the hardware threaded through before stitching

At each end of the fabric unfold carefully. Place the right side of each end together, ensuring that the loop has not been twisted.

A photo of the right sides of the short ends of the fabric clipped together before stitching. You can see the hardware is looped through the fabric

Stitch together using a ¼” seam allowance.

The ends of the fabric that were previously clipped together in front of the sewing machine about to be stitched together

Finger press the seam open. Then refold the fabric together.

A photo of the pressed fabric of the lanyard clipped together with the hardware visible before stitching with an 1/8" seam allowance around the edges

Edge stitch ⅛” all the way around each side. Backstitch to secure.

A photo of the lanyard with completed edgestitching on each side of the fabric

Bring the swivel hardware to the seam.

A photo of the loop seam straddling the hardware before stitching in place

Pull the swivel hook taught and stitch above to secure in place, backstitch to secure. I used my zipper foot.

A photo of the fabric lanyard clipped together near the hardware before stitching the hardware in place
A photo of 5 completed lanyards in various colours (orange, pink, light blue and cream prints) with black hardware laying on a gray cutting mat

That’s it, you’re all done!

A quick, useful project that turns scraps into something you’ll reach for again and again.

Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram, so that I can see and celebrate your creations!

@nthdegreesewing #nthdegreesewingtutorials

A pile of 5 completed lanyard laying on an ironing board (pink, orange, blue, black and cream fabric prints)
Natasha Merwin
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