Valentine’s Day festivities may have had their start in ancient Roman times with a festival called Lupercalia celebrated in the middle of February. Contemporary celebrations show the day as one to celebrate the notion of love with the giving of candy in pretty boxes, presenting bright red roses, red hearts and winged cupids on greeting cards for sure and an abundance of heart shapes to be seen just everywhere!

The simple heart shape symbol is easy to reproduce in a variety of media, and of course sewing a few to give away as gifts or to decorate the home makes for super simple sewing projects. Great for using up fabric scraps too!

Stack of scented hearts –a stack of three or four scented puffy fabric heart shapes tied with ribbon make for a simple Valentine’s Day gift idea. Cut out two of each heart shape from printed fabric, sew two together right sides facing out using a narrow seam, leaving an opening for turning. Turn, press, then lightly stuff with poly fiber fill and dried lavender, rose petals or scented rice. The poly fiberfill will give the hearts dimension and the added scent the desired aroma. Hand sew opening closed, pink edges to trim around the hearts. Stack and tie with ribbon.

Heart and lace brooch – cut two same size heart shapes from a small scrap of velvet or velour type material. Stitch right-sides facing using a narrow seam leaving an opening to stuff lightly with poly fiberfill. Hand stitch opening closed. Cut a length of lacy ribbon and gather one edge with a loose running stitch into a circle. Add the heart to the lace and hand stitch together. Glue or hand stitch a pin back to the back of the lace. Alternatively, instead of a brooch, the lacy backed heart can be made into a pony tail hair decoration by hand sewing a pony tail elastic to the back of the lace.

Heart pendants – can easily be sewn and long satin cording attached to make a pendant necklace. Cut two same size heart shapes from desired fabric (satin or shiny fabrics work nicely for this project), sew right sides facing each other using a narrow seam, leave a small opening for turning, trim, turn right sides out, fill with poly fiberfill and hand stitch closed. Attach a satin cord and add a tassel to the heart point for extra flair.

Scented potpourri hearts for clothes hangers – cut two small heart shapes, one of closely woven lace for the front and one of fabric for the back, sew right sides facing out leaving an opening for stuffing with dried lavender or rose petals, hand stitch closed. Add a pretty ribbon for hanging on a clothes hanger. If no lace is available, any translucent fabric can be used - organdy, cotton lawn, chiffon, or even a fabric softener sheet will do nicely.

String of hearts garland – using fabric of all one color or a variety of red, pink, and white prints, cut out heart shapes in the size desired, stitch two together with a narrow seam, right sides facing out and leaving an opening to lightly stuff with poly fiberfill or dried lavender for a fresh scent. Attach a length of ribbon or twine to each heart then hang from a long length of ribbon, twine or cording. A few or many hearts for the garland are great to decorate a mantel, window ledge or doorway.

Embellished felt heart pillow cover – cut out a heart shape to use for a template; iron a piece of freezer paper placed shiny side down to the back of a felt piece; use the template to draw the heart shape onto the ironed-on freezer paper and cut through both felt and freezer paper with sharp scissors. Peel off the freezer paper backing and the felt heart shape will have crisp edges. Center the heart shape onto a piece of fabric cut to the size of the pillow, muslin will do nicely, and hand or machine stitch the heart to the fabric. Cut a backing piece of fabric the same size. With the right sides of both front and back fabric pieces facing each other stitch on just three sides in a narrow seam. Clip corners, turn, press, insert the pillow and hand stitch the remaining opening closed. Just one heart shape or many overlapping heart shapes made from various felt colors can be stitched to the pillow front as desired. The pillow cover can be further embellished by hand sewing on a few shiny satin bows or a few antique buttons with ribbon streamers attached.

Consider sewing a few hearts for your Valentine. Roses are red, violets are blue, now off to sew a few hearts for my Valentine too! Happy Valentine’s Day.

Sew happy, sew inspired.