hoooo boy. my kids brought home the plague this past week. i started feeling awful... monday? unsure. it's blurring together. but... it's still nearly valentines, and i started this project with the hopes of getting it done in time for the holiday, so here goes.
first, i started smaller than what i'm showing here. this is easily scalable. less colors, more... 1 color even. there's no wrong way. and honestly, for me... this is just about being festive. embracing the love i feel for my people. is valentines a materialistic, capitalistic sham to get you to buy flowers and candy? probably. do i love candy and flowers? ohhh... absolutely. but i have been trying to be a little more aware of my buying... but! i'm always happy to make something. let me invest some time to show you i care. easy.
so... here's the rundown. start to finish, this can be cranked out QUICK. like... an hour? if you have a sewing machine. this can also be no sew (use skinny, skinny ribbon or even pearl cotton in like... 12? or bakers twine! and hot glue these nerds on there!). here we go...
directions: cut 2, 2" strips from each color (to get the number of hearts i have, you need to cut 18 x 2" strips- my photos only show one set of strips, i completed the first set last night- also, i measure nothing, these are imperfect, about 2" strips)
next- fold those strips in half, and cut on the fold
and repeat, until each strip is cut into 4 pieces.
next- take 2 pieces from each stack (half of the pieces) and cut them diagonal. these will form the smaller hearts. leave the other half uncut- these will make larger hearts.
next- fold each triangle in half, with the point pointing downward. using your thumb as a 'rounding' guide, cut the rounded tops of your hearts. using this method, cut all the triangles.
for the slightly larger hearts (whole squares)- fold in half (any direction) and cut your point- you want this cut to finish at about the half way point.
using your thumb again as a guide, round off your heart, and voila! bigger heart.
repeat x a million, cutting all your pieces til everything is hearts.
like magic.
next, line up your hearts vertically on a surface near your machine or glue gun. this step isn't necessary if you're just going to wing it. i wanted to maintain the same color order i started last night, so lining them up near my machine seemed quicker than fishing them off the window seat. until i did it backwards, and i had to change the direction of all 36. YAY!
leaving yourself a pretty long tail (for hanging) begin feeding the hearts through your machine, sewing through the center of each heart.
i did a video. ignore my talking. i'm an idiot. i think i say 6 strips, and then maybe 8 strips... no idea what i'm talking about. i blame the cold meds. i did get all these fab colors at joanns, which i think i mention. also, are you so happy i turned my camera the right way??? me. too! makes for better viewing in my opinion. i think that's it? i'll share a photo of the garland up, but first, the start to the envelopes... see below the video.
to make envelopes... this is what i've got so far... i'm going to start blanket stitching around the outside, add a hand stitched 'address label' and 'postage stamp' and then hot glue them into the right shape. also, this shows where the strips for heart garland came from, basically off-cuttings from making the felt sheets square. i love a good bogo.
since you need a square to make the envelope, let's do that first, i usually just fold one corner up, and clip, fold it's parallel corner down, clip, and then draw a line between the two little snips. if you have a squaring ruler... that's probably pretty quick. mine's in the basement. and my kids probably put it somewhere i'll never think of, like... in the yard. so... this method is faster.
more little snips. fold horizontal, .25" snip on each side. fold vertical, .25" snip on each side. open it up, and snip little right angle triangles at the snips. like so...
now i'm going to blanket stitch around the outside in a contrast color. and probably sleep. happy valentine's day! yours in eternal head congestion, sinus pain & love, xo- k.
Comentarios