prim hearts

Prim Wool Heart Pins

January 23, 2013 by Cyndee 8 Comments

Need a last-minute Valentine’s Day project? If that’s the case, dig out your old wool sweaters and do some laundry…

Yep, these prim heart pins were made using recycled wool sweaters that were felted in my washer and dryer using the hottest settings. Easy peasy felting!

I love making things from wool, but new wool can be a little expensive. If you don’t have the colors you want in your closet, hit the yard sales or thrift stores. I pick up most of my wool at yard sales when the weather is fry-an-egg-on-the-sidewalk hot. Yay, Me! Because of the heat, most yard sales that have sweaters up for grabs will sell them for practically nothing. I can usually score a rainbow of colors in one weekend that will last me the entire year.

I made my pattern with three rectangles of card stock. The biggest rectangle was 2 inches wide by 3 inches long. The other two were each cut a half inch smaller than the one before it.

I folded the rectangles in half and cut long hearts. Each heart shape is a layer to the valentine pin, but each heart is not an exact mini replica of the one before it. I think that’s why I love the primitive look to the finished pin. Yep, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 😉

I cut two identical felt hearts using the large pattern and one each from the remaining two heart patterns. Hint: To get exact shapes without pen marks on the felt, use freezer paper. Trace the heart shapes onto the freezer paper and iron the paper to the wool. Cut out the shapes and peel off the paper. You can even reuse the freezer paper several more times.

This project is super quick! The smallest heart is blanket stitched to the medium heart. Then the medium heart is blanket stitched to one of the large hearts. Place the last large heart on the bottom and blanket stitch the sides together.

For an added embellishment I stitched a button to the front of the heart.

Turn the heart over and stitch on a pin back.

I used traditional valentine colors for these heart pins, but using other colors will allow you to wear these prim pins any time of the year.

No wool? No problem. You can use craft felt, but you may need to add a tiny bit of stuffing between the two large hearts so the pin will hold it’s shape. Craft felt tends to be thinner than felted wool.

Enjoy!

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