While self-finishing key fobs are nothing new, most of them are large. That’s great if you are rooting around in purse or tote for keys, but they are a bit large if you carry your keys in your pocket. Planet Earth introduced their small leather key fobs last month to solve this problem.
So far Planet Earth makes them available with your choice of a few canvases with threads as kits. The only other designer who has canvases for these is Kate Dickerson, with a wide range of different designs, including this coral. I bought the fob and canvas together, but I don’t know if each is available separately.
The fob is made from the same sturdy leather as the company’s jewel boxes and coasters. The finished size is about 2″ in diameter with the opening for needlepoint 1.25″ The tab for your keys has both a clip and a split ring, allowing you some flexibility in how you use the finished piece.
The needlepoint from Kate came on a 4″ square of canvas, which meant I could easily mount it on stretcher bars. The canvases in the Planet Earth kits are not large enough for stretcher bars. They will need to be worked in hand or basted into a larger piece of canvas in order to be mounted.
The key fob has double-sided adhesive covered with paper to protect it. You will need to go under the leather and pull the paper from the edge to remove it. Before I did this I loosened the edges of the leather round by picking them up. To finish the fob, I cut out the needlepoint a thread or so beyond my stitching and centered it onto the fob.
The stitching is just big enough to fit the opening, although the picture above makes the gaps look much bigger. I would have preferred the painting on the canvas to have been one thread bigger all around. This would make a cleaner finish.
I then used my fingers and the Cricut spatula to tuck in the edges of canvas all around. I then pressed the needlepoint as well as the edges to make everything secure. The tag was complete and ready to go in less than 15 minutes.
I really liked the combination of style in the Kate Dickerson canvases and utility in the key fob. Both companies have worked to create canvases that are easy to stitch and items that look fantastic while still being easy to finish.
I hope Planet Earth adds more colors for this great product and that more designers make canvases for the fob.
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
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