Felt Heart Brooch

With so much "love in the air" at the moment, I've gone all romantic and made some little felt heart brooches and a key ring.

To make something similar you need:

• Felt
• Little bits of ribbon, lace or fabric
• Buttons, bits of old jewellery etc
• Embroidery thread

Plus for the brooch version - 

• Some sort of iron on interfacing or bond-a-web
• A brooch back or safety pin

and for the Keyring version -

• A little bit of wadding
• An extra length of ribbon
• A split ring (or other keyring thing of your choice)

First cut out a heart shape from the felt twice. My heart shapes are about 3" tall and 2.5" at the widest point (8cm x 6cm)

Play about with your scraps of lace, ribbon, fabric etc until you have an arrangement you like.

Using 2 strands of embroidery thread and some simple stitches sew the bits and pieces in place.

For the brooches I cut a piece of Bond-a-web in the heart shape too.
When everything was stitched in place like in the photo above, I turned the felt face down, tucked the ribbon ends in, placed the bond-a-web on top then placed the second felt heart on top.
Sadly I missed photographing this stage but basically you are making a bond-a-web or interfacing sandwich with the ribbon and lace ends tucked in.
Give it a quick press with the iron to seal it all together.
Ironing felt is horrible, it goes all floppy and a bit fluffy. Don't panic, just let it cool then trim any untoward bits. As it cools it should have a bit more body to it. If you want a really firm brooch just use a thicker interfacing.

It should look something like this. That lovely silver coloured charm was from an old broken necklace, I've been looking for something to use it on for ages!

Then just blanket stitch, or over sew if you prefer, all round the edge, again with 2 strands of embroidery thread.

Stitch a safety pin or brooch back on the back and you're done.

To make the key ring I started exactly the same, arranging an assortment of bits and pieces onto the felt heart.
I came across the little cross stitch heart in my sewing box, I must have made it ages ago as I don't even remember! It came in just right for this.
Stitch everything in place then miss the bond-a-web stage out and just start blanket stitching the two heart layers together. This time just tuck the lace or ribbon ends in when you get to them.
Stop when you get close to the top middle.

Fold your long bit of ribbon in half and pop it through the split ring. Then open up the felt layers and pop the ribbon in place.

Then just carry on with your blanket stitch, making sure you watch the back and catch all those layers with your stitches.

Once you are about an inch from where you started stop and pop a little wadding into to lightly pad the heart, then carry on with your stitches to seal it all up.

Make one for someone you love or make one for yourself! They could be lovely Mothers Day gifts, maybe replace the little felt heart with a flower, a circle of lace or a larger button. I guess it depends what you have. For me little projects like this are great for using things in my stash. Have fun!

You might also be interested in:

Embroidered Gloves

Button Tassel Keyring

Simple Felt Needle Case

Heart Elbow Patch Cardigan Makeover

I'll be linking up at these great link parties.