Rag Hearts (It's all Liz's fault...)

 It started with a passing comment in a charity shop. A friend who will remain namesless (you know who you are Liz Calderbank...you know who you are!!!) mentioned that she loved these hearts hanging in the window and wouldn't they be nice as centre pieces for her up coming wedding. As I was feeling particularly crafty at the time I told her not to buy them (at £14 a pop I thought they were a little over priced, particularly as she needed seven of the things). I decided to make her a set including her wedding colours burgundy red and gold with a smattering of white to fill out the frame.

So here is what you will need:

• material cut into strips about 6-7inches long and 1 inch wide (I used pinking shears to put an interesting shape on the fabric)
• scissors or pinking shears
• wire (I used a wire coat hanger for my tester version but later used standard garden wire) Please be careful with the wire, particularly when bending it into shape. It is sharp and will cut you if you are not careful!
• wire cutters
• a frame to bend the wire into shape (my Dad stuck some nails in a board to make my frame but you could use a paper template or use one frame as model for others if you are making a set  or group of hearts)

Please note you do not have to make hearts for this craft project to work, I have created stars, circles and circular wreaths too. 


So the first thing I did was bend the wire into shape, in this photo I have used the coat hanger rather than the garden wire although both create the same effect.
This project is so easy the only other step is knot the material strips onto the wire. When you start it will look shockingly bad (see right) but keep building up the material to get a thick and full bundle. I honestly stopped this project about three or four times. I was convinced that I was doing something wrong and that the hearts we had seen in the shop were created in a much more complex way. But keep with it and it produces a simple and pleasing fabric heart (honest!).The more material you can put in the better as seeing the wire through the material makes the wreath look cheap and unfinished.

 Here's the finished version of that original heart (note that I haven't included a hanging loop as these are designed as centre pieces for her table, but to include a loop simply cut a longer strip of material and attach to the top of the heart.)

Happy Crafting!

L x