January 26, 2023

This is what it looks like here.  There is a bit of scattered snow in shadows but not very much.   And the high today is 46-47 degrees with no rain.  It is cloudy though and I would like a bit more sun but I guess a lot of folks in the northern states could use a bit more sun.

So, as I said I have been listening to books.  I am currently listening to Patterson's Women's Murder Club series,  book seven, 7th Heaven.

I decided to try listening to a non fiction book and the book I chose is John Meacham's The Soul of American:  The Battle for Our Better Angels.  Meacham is one of my favorite historians.  I am finding that I have to pay more attention than I do with fiction.  I can still do physical things like exercise, cleaning, walking, etc.  But for things that require more thought, like writing this blog, it is hard to concentrate on both and not lose part of one or the other.

Today I want to share a craft that would be great for Valentine's Day...woven hearts.  I bet everyone at one time or another in their lives have made these hearts probably out of paper.  As you can see, part of the heart is woven.  And the nice thing is that this is a pocket that can hold things.  This heart was made out of felt.

It is easy to find patterns on line for woven hearts but you can also make your own as shown.  You can also change the number of strips from three to five or more.  

I wanted to make my hearts out of fabric.  Because I wanted the hearts a bit stiffer, I used a double fusion interface to fuse the wrong sides of the same fabric together.  I then cut out the heart patterns (You need two of different fabric.  Remember to place the bottom of the pattern on the fold.).  When weaving the hearts begin with the top strip and continue weaving.  

Weave the strips either inbetween or around the other strips in order to make a pocket.

Once the weaving is done and straightened out, stitch around the edge going above the woven area about an inch to inch and a half.  (See top heart.)

To finish the edges, I added lace.  For the two rounded areas, you need to add lace to both sides.  For the bottom woven area, you only add to the completed and sewn sides.  I used lace wide enough to fold over and secured it with clips before sewing.  

For the straight pieces of lace that border the woven area, I cut and glued a piece of lace that started from the middle where the rounded tops intersect, wound around to the back and stopped at the same area in the back.  This covered any problem areas where the two lace areas (the rounded top and the woven bottom) came together.

These heart are seven inches high and eight inches across and can hold things like candy or jewelry, etc.  You can add handles to hang the heart if desired.

Try making woven hearts with paper, felt or fabric and use it to give a gift to a loved one.

Talk with you tomorrow...