# Keychain handler # Introduction Most of my pants have small pockets. When doing gardening, standing up and down, this is not very confortable when you have your keys in. With some leather leftover, I made a simple keychain handler. You can attach keys to the belt or put it on your wrist. ## Table of Content - [Material](#material) - [Consumable](#consumed) - [Embellishment](#embellishment) - [Pricing](#price) - [Step by Step](#step-by-step) - [Pattern](#pattern) - [Instructions](#round-edges) - [Final result](#result) # Material ## Consumed - Leather strip: (vegetally tanned leather) 25cm length, 2cm width, 2.5mm thickness (if you want to carve the leather) or 1.5-2mm (if you just want to stain the leather). - Rotating carabiner - Snap button - One rivet / concho / chicago screw (select one of this option) Tips: Select the same color for all metallic parts ## Embellishment For carved leather: - Knife opener - Metallic Stamps - Sponge - Edge beveler - Edge burnisher For coloring: - Eco-flo Watershtein light brown - Eco-flo antique dye - han tan - Eco-flo acrylic gold Necessary: - Cutting mat (unless you have a working table) - Hole Punches: diameter depend on the snap button and rivet. ## Price (without counting the painting, irrelevant for the project) - 3.5€ for the [rotating carabiner](https://www.decocuir.com/products/mousqueton-tournant-ovale-nickele-40-mm?variant=40656932405302) - 4.6€ for the [Concho](https://www.decocuir.com/products/concho-vis-titus-argent-vieilli-antique-creation-decoration) - 0.8€ for the [Pressing button](https://www.decocuir.com/products/20-boutons-pression-laiton-12mm) - 2€: for the [leather strip](https://www.decocuir.com/products/laniere-cuir-collet-tannage-vegetal-naturel-ep-19mm-25mm-80cm?variant=40658459066422) **Total: 10.9€** without labor ! (Think about this before buying on Etsy) *Note*: I am not paid for this article, these are just links if you want the full detail. # Step by Step ## Pattern ![](/assets/images/keykey/leather.png){:style="display:block; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto" width="100%"} ![](/assets/images/keykey/000_big.jpg) ## Round edges Cut the end of the strip to get rounded edges (or any suitable shape) ## Carve Carve the leather at wish. Here, this is a simple pattern: 1. Draw a line parallel to the leather border of 2mm width 2. Cut and emboss the line 3. Make compass: - stamp a flower tool - Use the knife opener to create the 8 branches ## Prepare the Holes At the start, make the two most distant holes: one for the pressing button, one for the rivet (at 1cm from the ends). This are the simplest ones. Next, make a hole for the pressing button 1cm near by the rivet hole. Note: There are some template where the pressing button serve as a rivet. While this is more elegant, this is not recommended. First, it is hard to get a button with a large traversing pin. Next, button are not designed for that. For the last hole, (the second rivet hole), you may need to adapt the template based on the leather thickness: if your leather is too thick, it will be difficult to get it bent within a small radius. To reduce thickness, use a dedicated razor, near the dashed line, until you get something correct. ![](/assets/images/keykey/028_big.jpg) ## Stain the leather 1. Watershtein light brown for the middle ![](/assets/images/keykey/001_big.jpg) 2. Apply Antic finish when the dye is dry: put in on **both sides** (but let it dry before turning the leather piece). 3. Apply the acrylic gold only on the compass star, and remove the surplus immediately (with your finger for instance) ![](/assets/images/keykey/007_big.jpg) ![](/assets/images/keykey/008_big.jpg) With natural color: ![](/assets/images/keykey/026_big.jpg) 4. Edge finish black ## Putting the Metallic Parts Here, dedicated clamp are more than welcome, especially for the pressing button. Here, I used a Chicago screw, which is easy to put when you don't have many tools at home (However, be careful, it can unscrew itself). ![](/assets/images/keykey/015_big.jpg) ![](/assets/images/keykey/029_big.jpg) ![](/assets/images/keykey/013_big.jpg) # Result Full strip: ![](/assets/images/keykey/011_big.jpg) ![](/assets/images/keykey/012_big.jpg) Bent: ![](/assets/images/keykey/016_big.jpg) ![](/assets/images/keykey/017_big.jpg) Final result: ![](/assets/images/keykey/018_big.jpg) ![](/assets/images/keykey/027_big.jpg) ![](/assets/images/keykey/023_big.jpg)