This year for Valentine’s, give handmade! I created heart shaped felt pockets to fill with candy or small gifts to give as valentines this year as an alternative to paper valentines. Matthew is my only child in grade school so he’ll be passing these out to his class but anyone can give these. I’d give these to the teacher, our mechanic, the delivery man … give these to anyone you appreciate!

I’m sharing 3 ways you can make these heart shaped valentines since not everyone has a sewing machine or wants to hand-sew. Each of these methods gives the valentines a unique look. Mix and match for a very pretty assortment of valentines to deliver!

PREPARING THE FELT HEARTS

To get started, you’ll need to die cut the pieces for the valentines using a steel rule die cutting system, like this Sizzix Big Shot Machine I used.

Each sheet of felt yields two valentines. I used 14 sheets of felt to yield 28 valentines, half of which were Kunin Group Eco-fi^® Fancifelt™ and the other 7 sheets were Kunin Group Eco-fi^® Classicfelt™ so that the fronts of the hearts would have a pattern and the backs would be a solid color of felt.

Supplies:

• 9×12 Sheets of Kunin Group Eco-fi^® Fancifelt™
• 9×12 Sheets of Craft Cuts Kunin Group Eco-fi^® Classicfelt™
• Sizzix Big Shot Machine steel rule die cutting system
• Sizzix Bigz Die – Pocket, Heart Die by Echo Park Paper Co. #660796
• Sizzix Bigz Die – Love Silhouettes by Echo Park Paper Co. #660795
• Aleene’s Felt & Foam Glue by iLoveToCreate.com
• Scissors by Westcott Brand
• Assorted Embroidery Floss or Craft Floss
• Wonderclips by Clover or clothespins

Optional Supplies:

• Sewing Machine
• Yarn Darning Needle
• Embroidery Needle

Cut all of the pieces for each of the heart valentines as follows:

1. Cut each Craft Cut of Kunin Group Eco-fi^® Classicfelt™ or Kunin Group Eco-fi^® Fancifelt™ in half to 4.5” x 12”.
2. Die cut two hearts from each 4.5” x 12” strip of Kunin Group Eco-fi^® Classicfelt™ or Kunin Group Eco-fi^® Fancifelt™ using the Sizzix Bigz Die – Pocket, Heart Die by Echo Park Paper Co. #660796 and Sizzix Big Shot Machine.
3. Die cut 1 heart or 1 silhouette from the scraps of Kunin Group Eco-fi^® Classicfelt™ or Kunin Group Eco-fi^® Fancifelt™ using the Sizzix Bigz Die – Love Silhouettes by Echo Park Paper Co. #660795 and Sizzix big Shot Machine.

HERE’S HOW TO CUT FELT IN A DIE CUT MACHINE:

Lay the die face up on a cutting pad, in the machine.

Lay a piece of felt over the image on the die that you’d like to cut out.

Add more pieces of felt if there is more than one image on the die you’d like to cut out.

Add the cutting pad to the top of the die.

Turn the handle on the die cutting machine to run the die “sandwich” through the machine.

Remove the cutting pad to reveal the cut out images. Discard the negative image.

CREATING THE FELT HEART VALENTINES POCKETS

Pair a sold heart with a patterned heart and stack them together. Trim the tabs away from one of the hearts to make assembly easier.

GLUED HEART POCKETS:

Add a bead of Aleene’s Felt & Foam Glue by iLoveToCreate.com around the “V” section of the heart with tabs trimmed off. Fold in the tabs of the second heart under itself and press to the glue side of the first heart. Hold the hearts together with Wonder Clips by Clover or clothespins until the glue has dried, about 10 minutes.

HAND-SEWN HEART POCKETS:

Pin two hearts together (one with tabs, and one without), folding the tabs of one heart under itself so they are inside of the pocket. Pin together. Using embroidery floss, sew a blanket stitch around the “V” part of the heart. Tie off on one end.

MACHINE SEWN HEART POCKETS:

Pin two hearts together, trimming the tabs from both hearts. Set the machine to zig zag stitch and set the stitch width to about 1/8”. Sew along the “V” of the heart to form the pocket. Remove from the sewing machine and snip threads.

DECORATING THE HEART POCKETS:

Add embroidery stitches to the small hearts or silhouettes. Glue to the front of each heart pocket with Aleene’s Felt & Foam Glue by iLoveToCreate.com. Allow to dry for 10 minutes before filling the heart pockets with gifts and candies.

Try making these handmade felt heart valentines as an alternative to paper cards! Who do you gift on Valentines Day?

You can now find an expanded color line of Kunin Eco-fi Classicfelt; Eco-fiPlus™ Premiumfelt and ShaggiChic non-wovens fabrics in cut by the yard at your local Walmart; please inquire as to what is available in your area.

See more projects like this on my blog at Just JP.