I wear these a lot, they are great on cardigans, jackets or strung together to make a home decoration.  They are also very environmentally friendly in that you can use scraps from bigger projects and not waste material.

You will need:

• Coloured felt or fabric (felt is easier for the first time)
• Paper and pen to make a template
• Needle and appropriately coloured thread
• Waste fabric for padding
• Pretty button
• Pretty ribbon (I often use tags from women’s clothing)
• Metal pin back
• Glue if you don’t want to sew the pin onto the back

1.  Using paper and pen draw out a template heart.  I’ve photographed my template so you can use that if you print it out.

2.  Using the template, cut out two pieces of felt.

3.  Choose what sides you want to use as the best sides.  Then put the nice sides together because we are going to turn the heart inside out later.

4.  Use a running stitch to sew from near the top all around the heart but leaving an opening on the top.  Use pins to hold the other side in place while you sew if you need.  If you want, you could use thread in a contrasting colour as a feature.

5.  Now turn the heart inside out so the good side is showing.  Use a sharp point, such as the scissors to create the shape again.

6.  It is easiest to sew the decorations on now (you could do it before if you wanted, after this it is harder!)

7.  I started by taking two pieces of ribbon which are folded over to create a bow shape.  The join is hidden by the button which you also sew on now.

8.  Use fabric scraps to stuff the heart – I’m using an old bit of jumper.

9.  Now sew the top hole closed carefully trying not to show the stitches much on the front side.

10.  Lastly sew (or stick on) the pin clasp on the back.

Well done!

You can attach this to clothes or for decoration in your home.

If you want to use a fabric other than felt, you will have to either hem or tuck the frayed edges inside, so it doesn’t come apart.  For the blue spotty heart in the first image, I pinned two squares of fabric together, and using the template, sewed a straight stitch around the heart shape.  This means that when you turn it inside out, the frayed edges are well away from the shape of the heart.