HEART DECORATIONS
Today I am excited to share my fun blanket stitch felt hearts! They can be used in a variety of ways. I teach you how to sew a blanket stitch, which is an easy stitch that adds a lot of character to your finished project and adds a nice clean finishing stitch to hold two edges of felt and fabric together.
WHAT IS A BLANKET STITCH?
The Blanket Stitch is a decorative stitch that can be sewn alone or combined with rows of other stitches to create unique embellishments and a unique finish. It is usually used to secure two edges of blankets together or used in craft and embroidery projects to create a nice finished edge.
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HOW TO SEW A BLANKET STITCH
START YOUR STITCH
- Thread your needle and knot the tail end. Start by sending your sewing needle up from the back. This should be done about 1/4″ in from the edge, or at whatever length you want your stitches to be.
- To get the stitch anchored, poke your needle up from the back again, so that the needle comes out the top at the same spot where you started, creating a loose loop around the edge.
- Send your needle under the loop stitch you just made. To do this, poke the needle under the stitch going sideways at the edge of the felt. This gets your thread anchored, but it is not a true first stitch.
- To start your first true blanket stitch, poke your needle down from the top. This should be about a depth 1/4″ over from where the thread first came up, and about 1/4″ up from the edge. To complete your first stitch, bring your needle up from the back, and through the loop of thread. This should create a straight edge or straight line down the edge of fabric. Before pulling this stitch tight, be sure that your needle is in fact through the loop of thread.
MAKE A RUNING STITCH
- Now continue by creating a running stitch like this and you are on your way! Make sure your stitch length remains even on all your stitches for a nice finished look.
- When you are finished and get to the last stitch, tie it off by looping through the loop a couple of times and pull it tight into a new knot.
- Snip off the excess thread after hiding it inside the two layers of fabric.
- If you end up needing a new thread before you are finished, you can tie off the old thread and lose the end inside and between the two pieces of fabric and then start a new stitch in the same way you did at the beginning.
SUPPLIES FOR BLANKET STITCH HEART GARLAND
- felt or pieces of cotton fabric or fleece
- fabric scissors
- strands of embroidery floss
- string
- sewing needle or embroidery needle
- heart pattern
- polyfill stuffing
HOW TO MAKE A BLANKET STITCH HEART GARLAND
This adorable heart garland can be made with just a few items that you most likely already have in your sewing and craft supplies. Here is how I made my blanket stitch heart garland.
- Take your felt and trace onto it a heart shape using your heart pattern. I used a heart cookie cutter.
- Cut out your hearts. You will need two hearts to make one blanket stitched felt heart.
- Take a long piece of embroidery thread and thread it onto a sewing needle.. I used red and white embroidery color thread for my heart garland. Red thread for the red hearts and white thread for the pink and cream hearts.
- Blanket stitch around the entire heart (see the blanket stitch tutorial above). Be sure to leave a large enough hole before finishing off the blanket stitch. You will need this hole so you can stuff in your polyfill stuffing to puff up your heart.
- Stuff in the poly fill until it is to the fullness you want.
- Pinch the hole together with your fingers and continue stitching the blanket stitch around the rest of the heart. Tie off and secure with a knot and then cut the end of the embroidery floss off.
- Do this for all of your hearts. I made a total of 9 hearts. 3 of each color.
- After all the hearts are finished, take a piece of string and thread it onto a large needle. Thread the string through each of the tops of the hearts so they are all strung onto the length of string. Space them apart evenly and tie off the string at the end.
- You can add a little dab of hot glue at the edge of the string where it meets the top of the heart if you want to secure the hearts into place, but mine stayed in place pretty well without having to do this.
- Hang your garland on your fireplace, a bookcase or over a window for a fun valentines day decor!
I just love how it turned out!
WAYS TO DISPLAY BLANKET STITCHED HEARTS
There are so many ways you can display these cute felt hearts in your home or use them in your decor.
- heart garland
- display in a glass jar
- use to tie onto a valentines day gift
- hang them individually from separate strings from a window
- lay them out in a bowl on your coffee table
- make a large felt heart pillow to set on your couch
MORE VALENTINES DAY IDEAS
- Valentine Hearts Yahtzee Game
- Valentines Day Table Decorations
- Handprint Activity for Kids
- Valentines Day Sugar Cookie Bars
- Heart Hand Warmers
- Valentines Day Classroom Parties
- Valentines Day Classroom Boxes
- Paper Heart Garland
- Valentines Day Sign
- TIssue Paper Kissing Balls
- Sealed with a Kiss
- Candy Cane Heart Suckers
- Love Potion no. 9
- Just a Little Crush
- Tic Tac Valentines
- Heart Bottles and Cookies
- I Chews You Valentine
- Three Valentine Printables
- Framed Heart Decor
- Be Mine Décor
- Sugar Cookie Recipe
- Cookie Pops
- Valentine’s Candy Bark
- Heart Shape Pancakes
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