diy sewn paper valentines.

i heart valentine’s day, genuinely. who wouldn’t like a holiday that is all about love? i saw these little cards floating around pinterest & knew they had to be my valentines for this year!

{original pinterest link: sewn paper valentines}

supplies:

• heart template (see website above or make your own)
• pencil
• fabric
• cardstock for cards
• sewing machine
• thread (i used red & white)
• scissors and/or paper trimmer
• envelopes (see mine from earlier diy post)
• wasabi tape (optional – i used mine to seal the envelopes)

{first i printed out the heart template from the website above & made my own heart template from cardstock – much easier to trace than computer paper! then i traced the hearts onto my fabric – i recommend tracing on the back of the fabric so there are no pencil lines that show especially if you are using a light-colored fabric – and then cut out the hearts.}

{i cut out my cardstock, two pieces for each card. the dimensions of each card were 4 1/4 x 6 inches.}

{next i sewed three stitches onto the “cover” of each card; i sewed about a 5/8 inch seam – i lined up the right edge of the cardstock with the right edge of the foot. i used red thread for the top seam & white thread in my bobbin; this helped tremendously with the next step & also to keep the back of the card looking neat & clean. i made sure to leave the excess thread at both ends of my stitch long so that i could tie each off with a knot; i think knotting the thread works best for this project because doing a back stitch shows too much on the paper.}

{the fourth stitch on the card attaches the back cover. it is exactly the same stitch, you just add the back cover underneath.}

{after all of the cards were stitched together, i sewed a fabric heart onto each card by hand with red thread. {sidenote 1: i sewed all the backs of the cards on before i hand sewed the hearts mostly because i wanted to be done with the sewing machine. it would be a bit easier to sew on the heart either right after the first three stitches of the card, or even before you stitch the card at all. sidenote 2: i originally planned to use my sewing machine to sew on the fabric hearts, as per the original tutorial. after many attempts, however, i admitted defeat!}

{sidenote: i ended up without a picture of the card front. would one of my valentines mind sending me a picture of your valentines card so i can post it here? thanks!}

{i wrote my valentine’s day message inside the card & each card went into my diy envelopes! i used wasabi tape i bought from etsy to seal the envelopes.}

{i think the wasabi tape was a fun way to seal the envelopes. if you don’t have wasabi tape you could use regular scotch tape, use a sticker, or even glue the envelopes shut.}

did you send out valentines this year?

M