Time for one last heart-themed tutorial before Valentine's Day rolls round next week...

Today's project is a simple embroidery pattern (based on my felt heart brooch design from a couple of years ago) you can personalise with initials. Stitch it as a Valentine's or anniversary gift for the one you love, or as a wedding present for a special couple.

I've framed my heart inside one of the mini 3inch embroidery hoops (available from my shops) and I'll be adding a loop of red ribbon to the top so it can be hung as an ornament - it's actually going to be a house-warming gift for a couple who hopefully don't read my blog! But you can, of course, stitch your heart onto anything you fancy.

To make the embroidered felt hoop pictured...

1) Print the heart pattern at the bottom of this post, and draw on the initials you want. Then trace the pattern onto greaseproof/baking paper with a marker pen.

2) Stretch your felt in an embroidery hoop (I used a 5inch hoop for this step). Pin the baking paper in position in the centre of the hoop, tack it in place with long stitches and remove the pins.

3) Stitch the design. I used backstitch and half the number of strands in stranded white embroidery thread / floss.

4) Remove the tacking stitches and carefully tear away the paper from the stitched design, using a pin to remove any small or fiddly pieces. Then remove the felt from the hoop.

5) Carefully position the felt in a smaller (3inch) embroidery hoop, ensuring you get the heart as central as possible, then tighten the hoop

6) Trim the excess felt from around the edge of the hoop, leaving some to fold over in the next step.

7) Gradually fold and glue the felt into the back of the hoop. For extra neatness, cut out a circle the same size as the inner hoop and glue this to the back to hide your workings.

8) Place a small, clean jar inside the hoop to hold everything in place while the glue dries...

... and you're done!

Click here to view the pattern in another window/tab, and print it at 100%.

This tutorial is for non commercial use only: you can use it to embroider as many hearts as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. You may borrow a few photos if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to the original source, and do not reproduce my entire tutorial on your site. Thanks!

word of the day, via a comment on http://www.jwz.org/blog/2012/01/snow-crash-simulated/ : 'A skeuomorph /ˈskjuːəmɔrf/ skew-ə-morf, or skeuomorphism (Greek: skeuos—vessel or tool, morphe—shape),[1] is a derivative object that retains ornamental design cues to a structure that was necessary in the original.[2] Skeuomorphs may be deliberately employed to make the new look comfortably old and familiar,[3] such as copper cladding on zinc pennies or computer printed postage with circular town name and cancellation lines'

*http://www.handletheheat.com/2011/12/crispy-parmesan-rosemary-roasted.html

Found this a while ago and thought it was cool. I decided when I saw it that I would do this for Christmas. I was recently reminded of it again after joining Pinterest and I saw it again. I did it and it's cool. The cooling rack that I got to hang the bulbs from was too small so it didn't turn out as good as I had hoped but it's still cool. Next one will be much bigger and I will have help to make it go faster. It was fun and we will probably do it again next year