Valentine Felt

I made these little heart favors for the annual Valentine's Banquet at church. After all the fun I had making the white embroidered little-red-felt-birds for my girlfriends at Christmas, I wanted to do more embroidery.

I figured out a paper heart pattern and started making these in January on our trip home from visiting my parents. Then I spent a couple of happy months freehand stitching them. Last night was the banquet, so they have all gone to their happy homes.

I made around forty of them, and got pictures of most of them. I have posted all the pictures, so be warned.

When I do a project like this, part of the fun is to see how many different designs I can come up with. These are all my own designs. I start with no pattern and sew until it looks finished to me. I'm not really sure sometimes what will come out.

A variety of flowers. I looked in magazines and flower reference books for ideas.

Daughter M. suggested I try some Bleeding Hearts flowers and they turned out well.

Viney flowers.

Experimenting with french knots. Fun!

A little love.

Some border designs.

Beads were another fun variation.

Flowers and ribbons. These were my first designs. I looked in magazines or other books for design inspiration and kept sketch ideas for reference.

These are very simple to make. They are made of two layers of felt. I embroidered on the front piece and then sandwiched a bow-tied ribbon between the felt layers before whip stitching the edges. I threaded a seed bead on every other stitch. It gives a bit of a lace effect that I like. Simple and pretty.