Acrylic pin keeps with a cipher.

These are designed and made by Cathe, aka The Floss Queen on her laser.

You can select the color acrylic for your cipher pinkeep. At the present time Cathe is making them in Pearlescent, Blue Pearlescent and Linen (a mirrored acrylic).

This item has a two letter cipher on the front. You can see the options on the Cipher Options tab.

The kit includes the front and back pieces of acrylic, 3 layers of felt (35% wool/65% polyester), #26 Chenille needle, Soie 100/3 to match the acrylic and instructions for assembly. The acrylic has 1mm holes that will allow a #26 Chenille needle to pass through.

You can purchase a clip to help you hold the pieces together while sewing. See Related Items below.

Cathe has posted a video to our YouTube channel on the assembly as well. You'll get a copy of the instructions with your kit, but you can also find the PDF online, or you'll also find them on the Additional Information tab.

You'll sew these together with essentially a double running stitch. Once you've threaded your needle find where you want to start and stop your thread, insert the needle and make sure you've got half of hanging. You only want to make the first pass with half the thread. Go around the pinkeep making every other stitch from front to back, back to front. When you reach the hanging thread, put it in the needle and either reverse course of fill in the remaining stitches (depends on whether there is an even or odd number of hole in the pinkeep).

When you've reached the end tie a knot in the thread 2-3 times close to a hole. I recommend you put your needle in the hole and tie the knots around the needle. Then thread each end and pull it through to the other side. Tug a little so the knot gets buried in the wool felt. For extra security you can tie another knot on this side. Then snip close to the acrylic (being careful to not catch the thread you've sewn with).

Now you have a completed pinkeep. Decorate with glass head pinks or needles, as you wish.

Your cipher is made up of two letters, usually your first and last name, which interlock. The cipher alphabet used has a wide letter and narrow letter, 1 of each per cipher. You will need to indicate which letter you want for the WIDE letter and which for the NARROW.

As you’ll see below, it makes a difference on how the cipher looks. While we’ve used the AB combination for the example, also included is a photo with Cathe's cipher of CR. In this case she chose a Wide R and Narrow C.

This photo is of a needlekeep but the cipher is the same.