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Hanging Heart Softies — simple Valentine decor!
January 19, 2015 - By Ashley Johnston 9 Comments
So excited to have Cami here again from “Tidbits”, sharing the perfect little Valentine Decor you could hang from anywhere. These little Heart Softies would be so cute strung on some twine and hung across our mantel. I’m on it! :) Thanks again Cami!
-Ashley
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It’s Cami from Tidbits, and it’s good to be back again!
I tend to be a bit selfish when it comes to “my sewing time”. It generally means that daddy has the kids, and I lock myself in my sanctuary and let the creative juices flow.
However, I made it a new years resolution to involve my
kids in the joys of sewing more often. Because, as much as I treasure “my time”, I also treasure seeing the complete satisfaction and joy in the faces of my girls when I’ve taught them how to sew something, with their own 2 hands. So before I began sewing, I pulled my 8 year old into the craft room and told her we were going to sew up some simple little hanging heart softies.
She was ecstatic!
The purpose for this project was really 2-fold. I wanted something adorable to dress up our entry table for Valentines Day, as well as a simple project that my daughter could be proud of. I have taught her sewing lessons here and there, so she knew the basics.
These hearts were great sewing practice for her to work on corners and curves.
She sewed a couple, and I whipped out the rest – and we had a great time together! She loves to look at her handy work from time to time.
And I love to look at our sweet but simple entry way!
However, don’t let the fact that you would rather make these by yourself, stop you from this fun little project!
You can whip up a bunch of these in no time, for any purpose you would like!
They take minimal supplies (I dug through my scraps), and we left the seams raw and frayed them a bit to make them an even quicker sew.
Then I spray painted some branches from outside, stuck them in an old bucket full of dirt, and we had the perfect winter valentines backdrop for our hanging heart softies.
Keep reading, and my daughter and I will show you how simple they are to make!
Materials for 1 heart softy:
- Paper heart cut-out or template (any size you choose).
- Fabric – enough to cut a front and back from your template.
- Ribbon – we used about 7 inches.
- Batting or Stuffing – just enough to fill the inside of your heart.
Using your paper template, cut 2 heart shapes for the front and back of the heart.
Lay one fabric heart, right side down on a table. Place your batting or stuffing on top of the wrong side of the heart.
Place the second fabric heart shape on top of the batting, wrong side down.
Pin all around the heart, pinning the 2 layers of fabric together with the stuffing in the middle. You may need to gently stuff some of the fluff farther into the heart as you pin your way around.
Fold your ribbon piece in half, and insert the raw ends into the inside of the heart sandwich. Pin the ribbon securely in place.
Sew all around the heart, leaving at least 1/8-1/4 inch seam allowance.
(You could also sew around the heart before you put the stuffing inside, and leave a small opening to fill it after, and then close up the opening. Either method would work great, but I found this method to be a little quicker and my 8 year old learned how to deal with a little bulk while sewing with the sewing machine).
Clip your thread tails, and gently pull on the raw edges of the fabric to create a frayed look.
It’s that easy!!
I hope you will enjoy making a whole handful of these!
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If you are looking for another simple cozy project, come over and see my re-purposed sweater pillows.
Or if you would like to see our entry way before and after, head over to Tidbits!
Check out Cami’s blog Tidbits, her Pinterest Boards, and her Facebook Page.