{from my heart to yours: a tutorial}

Thanks so much to all of you who shared kind words, compassion, and your own stories with me last week. I don't think my inbox has ever been so full of strength and community. Thank you. Welcome, too, to new readers stopping by from CraftGossip and Ladies in Waiting -- it's been a pleasure connecting with you all.

We love to look out of the window, see the bright hearts, and be reminded of Mormor. I like to imagine her looking down from her cloud, scanning Texas, and the hearts catching her eye and showing her where to find us. As the little hearts we hung on our tree seemed to resonate with so many people, I'm going to show you, quickly, how to make them. 

Materials: 

a scrap of fabric, approximately 10" square

stuffing

needle and thread

paper

6" piece of ribbon

sewing machine (optional)

Begin by drawing a heart template on to paper. I find that I usually draw too small, and almost always go around the original adding a 1/4" extra. Cut out your template, and use it to cut two hearts out of your chosen fabric.

Cut a small square, with edges of approximately 2", out of the fabric. This will be your pocket for the front.

Fold the edges of the pocket 1/4" to the wrong side. Iron them to hold the fold.

Sew along the top edge of the pocket (I prefer hand-stitching, but you can use a sewing machine for all of this, if you like). If you want to decorate your pocket, by adding buttons or embroidery, do that now.

Place the pocket in the centre of one of your hearts, both right sides facing up. Pin in place, and sew around the three remaining sides, attaching the pocket to the heart.

Stack the two hearts together, right sides together, so that the pocket is sandwiched in the middle. Place your ribbon between the hearts, so that it forms a loop, with the ends sticking out at the top. 

Sew around the edges, leaving a 3" gap for turning.

Turn your heart inside out, and fill with stuffing. Sew up the gap.

To add messages, we simply cut thin strips of paper, 1" wide and 6" long. For us, what seemed best was writing down the things we would have like to be able to say to Mormor. You could also fill you hearts with favourite memories, prayers, quotations, small instant photographs, favourite sweets or flowers.

Thanks again for sharing your lives with me over the week. For those of you who will be creating your own tree of hearts, I hope it brings you comfort and peace. xx