Heartfelt

I've been making lots of little fabric stuffed hearts lately, because it's close to Valentine's Day and because it's a quick, easy way to create a miniature fiber artwork from leftover fabrics, yarns, abandoned projects, samples of embroidery, crochet, lace, and saved scraps of ribbon.

I love helping other people create and express themselves too, so here's a basic instruction guide for a do it yourself heart using the 'captured threads' technique. If you're not handy with a sewing machine you can do it the old fashioned way with a needle and thread.

First create a simple heart template on paper or cardboard. They are easy to find by Googling free heart patterns or you can fold a piece of paper in half and remember your elementary school skills with a pair of scissors. It doesn't even have to be a perfect, symmetrical heart. I mean, have you looked at a real heart? It's a bit more lumpy, bumpy, but feel free to make your hearts as wonky as you like. My hearts are about 3.5 inches across

For the base on this example I used some leftover fabric from an ice dying workshop I attended, but any commercial fabric will do since for this technique of "thread capture" most of the heart will be covered, anyway, but pick a colour that will please you.

Gather various threads, yarns, slivers of ribbon, even chopped fabric in confetti sized pieces, and drape them across your cut out heart until you like the flow of the textures and colours. I save snipped threads in a jar for just such a purpose.

Cover the whole thing with a piece of tulle net. Try different colours of tulle. I had some dark blue, some pink, and some shimmery bronze. They sell them by the spool in the wedding supplies sections of craft stores. For this pink background the dark blue worked best.

Carefully stitch all around the edge of the heart using a matching colour of thread, either by machine or hand. This traps all the threads under the net. Cut away the excess net and thread all around the heart. Although, in my case, I liked leaving trails of thread floating out one side of the heart.

Cut out another heart for your backing. It can be the same fabric or something wild. Stitch the two hearts together over the other stitching but this time leave a one inch opening on one side of the heart. Use fluffy, soft filling designed for stuffed animals and stuff the heart. It doesn't take much. Make sure you poke the filling to each curve and point but don't overstuff.

After that, just stitch the opening shut and then find a nice bit of silk ribbon or yarn or twine and hand stitch to the back of the heart. I then embellish with sequins, beads or buttons, or even hand embroidery, over the tulle. Just remember to bury the thread back into the heart before snipping it off.  I often finish the edge of the hearts by brushing gold or silver metallic acrylic paint around the rough edges of the hearts. A beautiful finish for frayed edges. And done. Start to finish it takes about 45 minutes to an hour, but you're having so much fun it seems shorter.

I made a gold one too, using this technique, and a starry night, and a fish in the sea.

And if you make a lot of hearts they make a lovely display.