Bored? Looking for a creative outlet? Do you need a new hobby for the summer you will eventually abandon halfway through and come back to in a few months? Look no further than friendship bracelet keychains!

Keep reading for a step by step tutorial of how you can make your very own legfish keychain.

Step 1: Familiarize yourself with the pattern and knotting techniques!

The first step of making a friendship bracelet keychain is learning the basic knotting techniques, there are four basic knots: forward, backward, forward-backward, and backward-forward. A video tutorial for the four basic knots can be found at the top of the pattern.

You can find the pattern here. If you want to find it manually, head over to braceletbook.com and search for pattern #189358, it should look like this:

Each color on the pattern can be customized to your liking! You can also only do one legfish or make both the legfish the same color to make it easier.

Once you have the pattern you can move to step 2!

Step 2: Gather Materials

The most important materials are embroidery thread and tape! Embroidery thread can be found at your local craft store.

The keychain attachment is another key material. The specific one I am using is a 1” D ring keychain, it can be found online (I got mine on Amazon), or at your local craft store.

I use a clear tacky glue that can be found at your local craft store but any clear drying glue works great.

To spread the glue I use an old ID card but a paintbrush or sponge works just fine as well.

The next few items are optional! Bobbins to wrap your thread around are optional but make the process of creating the keychain easier

I like using a notebook and pen to write down the rows i’ve completed in case I have to step away from it

A straightedge is useful for pushing the row of knots up, I like using an old ID card but your fingers work just fine as well

A measuring tool is useful for precision but if you prefer to eyeball it, go for it!

Step 3: Set up your keychain!

The first step is to cut your base strings to an appropriate length. Because the pattern asks for 18 base strings, we only need 9. Cut 9 strings at 16 inches each. Keep in mind that each string will be folded in half.
Tape down your keychain attachment to your work surface and begin attaching the base strings using a larks head knot.

Step 4: Starting the keychain

Take your background color thread and tape it down next to your keychain

Start with a backward-forward knot on the first base string and continue the row with forward knots until you reach the last base string.
On the last base string, tie a forward-backward knot.

You might be asking why the knots on the edges are different, using this technique helps keep the edges of the keychain straight!

Push all the knots upwards - this step is important for ensuring that your keychain stays straight and the pattern looks neat at the end
When starting the second row, start with a forward-backward knot and continue the row with backward knots until you reach the last string. Tie a backward-forward knot on the last string.
Push all the knots upwards

Note: Every knot on the left-most string will be a backward-forward knot and every knot on the right-most string will be a forward-backward knot.

Step 5: Color swapping

Row 3 is the first row that requires a color swap. I'll show my preferred technique in the next set of steps.

Start with six knots of your background color and tape down the color for your first fish, I’m using red.

Place the red string behind the six knots of the background color, move the background string away from the rest

Tie half of a forward knot with the red string and place the background string on top of the forward knot

Finish the forward knot with the red string, and place the background string behind the keychain, continue your keychain as normal with the new color. In this case the pattern calls for three forward knots with the second string.

When swapping back to the background color simply bring the string down from under and repeat steps c-d with your second string. When you finish using a certain color you can cut the excess string right away or move it out of the way.

Note: Remember to push the row of knots up before starting a new row!

Step 6: Finishing the keychain

Keep repeating steps 4 and 5 until you reach the end of the pattern. From here you can tie off the keychain however you want, I like to use a gathering knot.

Cut the excess strings, leaving about an inch of the base strings under the knot and an inch of the other strings left to ensure the pattern stays in place.