valentine's day shabby heart tutorial

Just fyi: This is a repeat from last year. :) Enjoy!

In my effort to put a Valentine decoration here and there around the house, I browsed Esty. For decor, I generally tend to lean towards shabby chic, or country style. As I was browsing, I came across some super cute shabby puffy fabric hearts. Normally, I'm a buyer instead of a DIY'er, but I'm trying to change my ways. I saved about $20 doing these on my own!

I knew these puffy hearts were something I could make, and I had all supplies on hand, thankfully. I'll try to quickly walk you through the steps, but they are pretty easy peasy, even with the most basic sewing skills.

You'll Need:

- tea bags

- jumbo bowl for steeping fabric

- Valentine's themed rubber stamps and pad

- cotton fabric (for hearts)

- linen or muslin fabric for decorating hearts 

- sewing machine

-thread

- scissors

- stuffing/filler

Step 1: You will need to gather the fabric you'd like to use. Cut into big squares, depending on how big you'd like your hearts. Bigger hearts will be much easier to work with. 

Step 2: Steep two jumbo tea bags (or 4 smaller ones) and soak your fabric. I let mine steep for about 20 minutes. Since the tea was pretty strong, the fabric got 'aged' quickly. Keep an eye on the fabric so you can monitor the color changes.

Let your fabric dry after they have their tea bath. I got impatient so I threw mine into the dryer for 20 minutes.

Step 3: While you're waiting, stamp little muslin fabric pieces ( you could also use linen if in a pinch) with lovey dovey things. I stamped te amo, my nieces name, me and Southern Hubby's pet name- Bee, xoxo, kiss me, and a cupid.

By this time, to be quite honest, I was getting impatient. These little suckers take a bit of time to make (all the waiting on the fabric) but they were fun in the process. Consider yourself forwarned. :)

Step 4: Iron your tea-dyed fabric. Make a rough outline of your heart shapes using a fabric pen or pencil. For a more primitive or shabby look, don't make your hearts super perfect. I did everything free hand and liked the way they came out.

Step 5: Cut around your heart shape, leaving plenty of border, about 3/4". You will be handsewing to close. (I cut a little too close and it made it more difficult for me to hand sew it closed.

{{This is where I stopped taking pictures. Sorry!}}

Step 5:( Before sewing the hearts together!) Using your sewing machine, sew the small muslin stamped fabric pieces onto the front (right side) of the hearts. You must remember to do this first because you won't be able to do it after you've sewn your hearts together.

Step 6: Pin your heart shapes with the right sides together and sew along your outline. Do not sew them all the way around!

Important: Leave a 1.5-2" opening so that you can turn the hearts inside out. 

Step 7: Using a pencil or knitting needle, turn your hearts inside out. Now would be the time to iron out for a finished look.

Step 8: Stuff soft cotton filler into the hearts making them as puffy as you'd like.

Then using matching thread, hand-sew the hearts closed.

That's it! :) You've got some super easy Valentine's Day decorations! I've gotten plenty of compliments on my little bowl fillers already.

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions. I can try and help. 

xo