On a Heart Pin to Make for Valentine’s Day

I’ve been thinking about heart pins for awhile and look as I might I never seem to find one, vintage or otherwise, I absolutely love enough to buy. As a result, in a moment of frustration, lack of fabric for another project, and a great desire to make something, I decided I was going to remedy my lack of a heart pin by making my own and wanted to share it with you!

Supplies

♥ Felt
♥ A pipe cleaner
♥ Darning needle/something that will poke a small hole
♥ Thread in a matching color
♥ A pin backing or safety pin

*The finished pin is about 2 ¼ inches long

Instructions

1. Cut out two hearts from the felt about 1 inch by 1 inch in size.

2. Now to make the hearts thicker. Take the two hearts you just cut out and sew them to the larger piece of felt making an attempt to stay as close to the edge of the cut out hearts as possible. Cut them out again.

3. Overlap the hearts slightly and sew them together by hand or machine.

4. Cut off a 3 ½ inch piece of the pipe cleaner.

 

5. Remove all but ½ inch of the fuzz by pulling it off. (You could also trim it as short as possible if you don’t mind your arrow being a bit fuzzy- both methods are equally a tedious.)

 

6. Decide on the two points you want the arrow to go through. Use the darning needle to poke through just enough (not too much or else you’ll have a large hole!) to create a hole for the pipe cleaner to go through. This may take a few tries since the end of the pipe cleaner gets stuck on the felt. 

The back...and, yes, I took this picture after step 7. 

7. Fold the non-fuzzy end so it looks like this and squeeze it into shape. You especially want to be careful the end is folded in because you don't want it to catch on whatever you pin it to.

 

8. Sew your pin backing or safety pin to the back. Be careful not to sew through to the front!

Try to sew it more towards the center or else the pin will show.

9. Pin it to your sweater, cardigan, bag, or hat!

While I’m not giving up my search for the perfect heart pin or brooch, I must say I’m enamored with this one and am happy to have made it just in time for Valentine’s Day! ♥♥♥