Cute Cat & Bunny Valentine's Day Embroidery Patterns

Stick your favourite romantic film on (or a playlist of classic love songs!) and get stitching this weekend with this pair of cute Valentine's Day projects, now available in my Patreon pattern library.

 

Choose from "You're Purrrrfect" and "You Make Me Hoppy", or stitch them both for double the fun. 

These patterns were inspired by the pun-tastic Valentines Cards I shared last month.  I just couldn't resist seeing if they'd work as embroidery patterns... and I'm really pleased with how they turned out. 

P.S. This is the first of a couple of posts I'll be sharing today - it's been a busy week here and I'm trying to catch up! xx

Click here to find the Valentine's Day embroidery patterns, and to sign up to my Patreon. 

Subscribers get full access to a growing library of PDF patterns and tutorials, and emails whenever new projects are added. You can unsubscribe at any time.  

P.S. Visit my crafty tutorial archive to find more creative projects.

You'll also find printable PDF sewing patterns over in my shop along with lots of vintage goodness:

How To: Appliqued Heart Bag for Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day in the world of crafting basically means LET'S STICK HEARTS ON ALL THE THINGS... and there's nothing wrong with that, right?

Sooo today I'll be showing you how to embellish a small bag with a felt heart patch and some simple embroidery.

This tutorial was originally designed for The Village Haberdashery's blog - visit their shop for lots of crafty goodness!

You will need:

* The template sheet from my Valentine’s wreath tutorial.
* A blank cosmetic bag or other small purse.
* Felt in the following colours: pink, bright pink, lilac, and dark purple.
* Matching embroidery threads (floss).
* Light pink sewing thread (i.e. to match the colour of the largest heart).
* Sewing needles and pins.
* Optional: an air-erasable fabric marker pen.

To decorate the bag:

1. Use templates A, B, C and D from the Valentine’s wreath tutorial to cut out four heart pieces. A = bright pink. B = lilac. C = dark purple. D = pink.

2. Follow steps 5 and 6 of the Valentine’s Wreath tutorial to sew the layers together, using contrasting embroidery thread (I used pink thread, then bright pink, then lilac then dark purple) to decorate the hearts and stitch them together. Use half the embroidery thread strands only – so for six-stranded thread just use three strands.

3. Iron the cosmetic bag if required then position the felt heart in the centre. Hold or pin it in position then sew it in place with whip stitch and matching pink sewing thread. Take care to only sew through one layer of the bag!

4. To complete the decoration, fill in the space around the heart with embroidery. I stitched backstitch lines radiating from the heart, alternating between bright pink and dark purple and using half strands as before. Use an air-erasable fabric marker pen to draw guide lines from your stitching or just stitch freehand.

Make sure not to sew through the fabric edge of the zip (hold this away from the bag fabric when you’re stitching near the opening). Knot your thread at the end of each section of stitching and start afresh when sewing the next section, don’t carry threads across the inside of the bag (you don’t want whatever you put in the bag to “catch” on trailing threads!).

If you're giving this bag as a gift, why not fill it with Valentine's candy before wrapping it for a sweet (PUN ENTIRELY INTENDED) extra gift.

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Pun-tastic Valentines: 12 Fun, Easy, & Cute Cards to Make!

UPDATE: this project is now available as part of my Patreon pattern library.

Click here to find the Tic Tac Toe tutorial and to sign up to my Patreon. 

Subscribers get full access to a growing library of PDF patterns and tutorials, and emails whenever new projects are added. You can unsubscribe at any time.

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Today I’m sharing templates and quick tutorials for making cute and colourful Valentine’s Day cards inspired by silly puns.

BEE mine, I’m PINE-ing for you, You make me HOPPY - whichever card (or cards) you choose, I hope you’ll have fun making these!

P.S. Visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more crafty projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:

Felt Hearts & Kisses Tic Tac Toe Set for Valentine’s Day

Instead of Noughts and Crosses, why not play a game of Hearts and Kisses!

Use colourful wool blend felt to make this felt game board and pieces decorated with hearts and X-shaped “kisses”. For even quicker crafting, glue the felt game pieces together with craft glue and make a board from colourful card.

This project is now available as part of my Patreon pattern library.

Click here to find the Tic Tac Toe tutorial and to sign up to my Patreon. 

Subscribers get full access to a growing library of PDF patterns and tutorials, and emails whenever new projects are added. You can unsubscribe at any time.

P.S. Visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more crafty projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:

A Year of Wreaths: February Valentine's Heart Wreath Tutorial

UPDATE: this tutorial is now available as a printable PDF pattern over on my Patreon.

Subscribe for a small monthly fee and you'll get access to a growing library of PDF patterns and tutorials, with an email whenever I add a new project. You can cancel any time.    

Click here to check out my Patreon page and sign up!

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My monthly wreath project continues with a heart-themed wreath to celebrate Valentine’s Day, and to spread a little love and happiness!

This month’s wreath features embroidered felt hearts, pretty ricrac and some gorgeous berry-coloured yarn.

The hanging heart would also make a fab ornament on its own - simple add a coordinating ribbon loop and a matching backing heart (either cut a plain red felt heart or repeat the relevant steps to make two decorated hearts to join together).

Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly(ish) free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:

Tutorial: Felt Hearts & Kisses Tic Tac Toe Set

UPDATE: this project is now available as part of my Patreon pattern library.

Click here to find the Tic Tac Toe tutorial and to sign up to my Patreon. 

Subscribers get full access to a growing library of PDF patterns and tutorials, and emails whenever new projects are added. You can unsubscribe at any time.


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Instead of playing Noughts and Crosses, let's play Hearts and Kisses!

My latest tutorial for The Village Haberdashery's blog is for sewing this cute Tic Tac Toe set from felt.

The game board and pieces are really easy to sew and they'd be a great project to make with your kids this Valentine's Day.

12 DIY Pun-tastic Valentine's Cards

UPDATE: this project is now available as part of my Patreon pattern library.

Click here to find the Tic Tac Toe tutorial and to sign up to my Patreon. 

Subscribers get full access to a growing library of PDF patterns and tutorials, and emails whenever new projects are added. You can unsubscribe at any time.

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I had lots of fun cutting and sticking last week, making 12 cute and totally pun-tastic Valentine's Day cards for the Village Haberdashery.

 

I made all these cards with paper and card from this fab, colourful paper pad. It includes some gorgeously bright colours and was a real joy to craft with in dark, depressing January!

 

A Year of Wreaths: February Valentine's Heart Wreath

UPDATE: my February Heart Wreath Tutorial is now available as a printable PDF pattern over on my Patreon.

Subscribe to get instant access to a growing library of PDF embroidery patterns and craft tutorials, and updates when I add something new!

 
Click here to see all 12 seasonal wreaths in this series!

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My monthly wreath project continues!

Each month this year I'm making a seasonal wreath for The Village Haberdashery's blog. With Valentine's Day being in February of course I simply had to cover this month's wreath in hearts.

This month's wreath is wrapped in gorgeous pink yarn, and decorated with felt embellishments and some simple embroidery. There's a large heart that hangs in the middle of the wreath - I think this would also make a lovely ornament on its own, or a fabulous statement brooch.

Then the top of the wreath is decorated with more hearts and layers of felt and ric rac. Super pretty!

 

Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

Three Easy Valentine's Day Craft Ideas

This is an advertorial and I received a fee to create some Valentine’s Day crafts for https://www.tescoliving.com/making-and-doing

It looks like we're in for a wet and windy weekend, doesn't it? Perfect weather for staying indoors doing some crafting for Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day isn't just about romantic dinners with chocolates and roses, it's also a great excuse to let your family and friends know you love them with a handmade card or gift.

I've designed three easy paper crafting projects that are lots of fun to make... wanna see them?

First up, there's a Valentine's printing project: use everyday things from your home like kitchen sponges and cotton buds to make pretty printed heart cards.

This is a great craft to do with young kids, but honestly I'm in my 30s and I had an absolute blast making these! Click here to see the cards and the step by step instructions.

Next up: make a Valentine's Day card with a secret, hidden message!

It might be because I read so many spy and mystery novels when I was a kid but I adore anything involving a secret message. Can you guess where the message is hidden? Click here for the full tutorial, including all the templates you'll need to make your cards.

Finally (and, not gonna lie, this is probably my favourite of the bunch), I made some bunny gift boxes.

Not boxes for putting bunnies in (sadly, as a box filled with bunnies would be pretty awesome) but boxes that look like bunnies. They have little fluffy tails and everything! For added cuteness, the bunny faces are made from heart-shaped pieces :)

The bunny gift boxes would be perfect for Valentine's Day gifts, or you could make a whole set over the next few weeks and use them for Easter instead.

I made a whole rainbow of bunny gift boxes, click here to see how they turned out and grab the templates for making your own.

DIY Valentine's Card: I Love You More Than Tea

As I mentioned the other day, I've been doing a bit of tea-themed crafting. Here it is... an easy DIY Valentine's Card:

These are pretty simple, but lots of fun to make!

You can make your card with the message "I love you more than tea", or cross out the "more than" and write a cheeky "almost as much as" instead. You could also swap "tea" for "coffee" if that's your drink of choice :)

1. First, print your message on a piece of plain card. I used Word and set up an A5 page divided into two columns, with the page margins set to "narrow." I added my text in the right-hand column and centred it and played around with font sizes until I was happy with the arrangement. I printed out some test prints on paper...

... and then when I'd got everything set up how I wanted, I printed two versions on white card.

I printed two copies so I could show you guys two variations, but actually I think it's not a bad idea to print a couple of copies so you can choose the final version that turns out best as the later steps can be a bit messy.

2. Test making tea rings on a scrap piece of paper. I put the piece of paper on a tray, and filled a saucer with black tea. I then dipped the bottom of a small mug into the tea, and used it to make prints on the paper. I found it was a good idea to check underneath the mug for any bubbles that need bursting, and also to hold the mug over the saucer for a second or two to allow any large drips to drip into the saucer and not onto your piece of paper.

4. Now the fun bit: decorate your card(s) with tea rings. I placed my cards on pieces of paper towel (kitchen roll) on a tray, with the saucer on the tray next to it. Try to avoid the printed text if you can, as the tea will make the ink run. As you can see from the second picture, this can't always be helped - I placed my tea rings to avoid the text and still managed to drip a big drop of tea on it! Oops.

If you wanted you could always decorate the card with tea stains first and then add the text - the tea distorts the card so it probably wouldn't print very well, but you could hand-write the text instead.

5. Leave your card to dry and then fold them. My cards ended up looking like this when they'd dried:

6. Add the "almost as much as" text if you want to. I'd recommend writing this on one of your paper test prints first to test the position & size of your handwriting & get the finished result exactly how you want it.

7. Finally write your message inside, pop it in an envelope (a brown one would be nice, to go with the tea theme but it's not essential) and give it to your loved one this Valentine's Day :)

This would also be a sweet card to make for an anniversary!

You may borrow a few photos if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to the original source, and do not reproduce my entire tutorial on your site. Thanks!

Enjoyed this free tutorial? Buy me a "coffee" and help support my blog!


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Craft Ideas for Valentine's Day

I got very inspired by Valentine's Day and all things heart-themed this time last year, which was rather ironic given it was the first Valentine's Day I'd spent as a single lady in about 10 years! Creativity eh? It works in funny ways :)

Anyway... I thought it'd be helpful to do a quick round up of last year's projects, in case you were planning some Valentine-themed crafting this year.

(Clockwise from top left)

You could...
... make a Valentine's garland, counting down the days with 14 little love notes in 14 mini envelopes
... sew a mini cross stitch heart brooch (or a whole set of brooches as gifts for your friends)
... make a cute owl-themed Valentine's Day card (Owl Always Love You!)
... opt for something simple, with a mini envelope Valentine's card
... throw a party with a heart theme, using felt hearts + washi tape to decorate place cards, etc
... or embroider a romantic little heart and frame it in an embroidery hoop

I also wrote a very handy post last year with links to all my previous heart-themed projects (including the mini cushion (pillow) covered in buttons, a faux bois embroidered heart, a felt heart brooch and cute felt lavender sachets pictured below) plus ideas for adapting some of my paper crafting projects when throwing a Valentine's Day party.

Not a fan of St Valentine? Lots of these tutorials would also make sweet gifts for anniversaries or for couples getting married this year.

P.S. Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:

How To: Embroidered Heart Hoop

Time for one last heart-themed tutorial before Valentine's Day rolls round next week...

Today's project is a simple embroidery pattern (based on my felt heart brooch design from a couple of years ago) you can personalise with initials. Stitch it as a Valentine's or anniversary gift for the one you love, or as a wedding present for a special couple.

I've framed my heart inside one of the mini 3inch embroidery hoops (available from my shops) and I'll be adding a loop of red ribbon to the top so it can be hung as an ornament - it's actually going to be a house-warming gift for a couple who hopefully don't read my blog! But you can, of course, stitch your heart onto anything you fancy.

To make the embroidered felt hoop pictured...

1) Print the heart pattern at the bottom of this post, and draw on the initials you want. Then trace the pattern onto greaseproof/baking paper with a marker pen.

2) Stretch your felt in an embroidery hoop (I used a 5inch hoop for this step). Pin the baking paper in position in the centre of the hoop, tack it in place with long stitches and remove the pins.

3) Stitch the design. I used backstitch and half the number of strands in stranded white embroidery thread / floss.

4) Remove the tacking stitches and carefully tear away the paper from the stitched design, using a pin to remove any small or fiddly pieces. Then remove the felt from the hoop.

5) Carefully position the felt in a smaller (3inch) embroidery hoop, ensuring you get the heart as central as possible, then tighten the hoop

6) Trim the excess felt from around the edge of the hoop, leaving some to fold over in the next step.

7) Gradually fold and glue the felt into the back of the hoop. For extra neatness, cut out a circle the same size as the inner hoop and glue this to the back to hide your workings.

8) Place a small, clean jar inside the hoop to hold everything in place while the glue dries...

... and you're done!

Click here to view the pattern in another window/tab, and print it at 100%.

This tutorial is for non commercial use only: you can use it to embroider as many hearts as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. You may borrow a few photos if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to the original source, and do not reproduce my entire tutorial on your site. Thanks!

Enjoyed this free tutorial? Buy me a "coffee" and help support my blog!


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