DIY petite fabric heart charm

When my blog was only a few days old I made a tutorial for a sweet fabric heart charm. I was all into pink at that time!

Now, three years later, I revisited this post after I noticed it got pinned to pinterest. I thought it was charming, but the photo editing needed a bit of an update. So I dug up the old original photos, edited them and updated the original post.

Then I got enthusiastic about this sweet charm.

With my current style and preferences in mind I created a new fabric heart charm and made a tutorial for you. And I made another charm :)

Materials needed

Fabric (leftovers are perfect for this!)

A small piece of lace or other applique / embellishment / piece of fabric

Needle and thread

Scissors

Small heart shape template

(there are plenty on pinterest but I just eyeballed mine by folding a piece of paper, cut a half heart, unfold, et voila)

Pins

Cotton stick

Cotton wool or other filling for your heart

Thin ribbon (optional)

Beads

How to make this charm

It is only small, you need just a little piece of fabric.

This time I used denim from an old jeans.

I found it to be harder working with this than with the cotton fabric of the first charm.

The beads came from necklaces that were beyond repair.
Repurposing can be so satisfying.

1) Cut two identical hearts from any fabric you like.

First get your heart template,

pin it to your fabric,

cut around it.

x 2.

2) Stitch your embellishment like lace or applique on both front sides.

I used these flower appliques.

Make sure to leave plenty of room around appliques.

3) Stitch the two parts together - PRETTY SIDES FACING EACH OTHER.

Trust me, you'll forget this only once.

Leave some space between the edge of the fabric and the stitching.

And leave a gap on one of the edges like below.

Knot and cut your thread.

Then carefully cut in the seam allowance like the black lines below show.

BE SURE NOT TO CUT TOO CLOSE TO YOUR THREAD!!!

(Or you'll end up cutting your thread and then you need to sew again. Like me...)

You need this for your heart to shape more smooth later on.

4) Turn your heart shape inside out.

So the pretty sides are on the outside now.

Use a cotton stick if you need some help in the corners.

5) Fill your little heart with cotton wool or other filling.

Again use the cotton stick if you need help pushing it in the corners.

6) Close the gap

I tried making this stitching clear by adding the red lines here, lol.

Anyway, go back and forth between the two sides of the heart, a bit like this:

Make your starting knot.

Begin on the inside of one of the sides, a few millimeters from the edge of the fabric.

Ggo to the other fabric side, go from outside to inside.

Then on that same side go a bit further up to the outside again.

Then back to the other side in the same manner.

Etc.

When I reached the end of the gap, I decided to go along the whole edge of the heart

because of the fraying of the fabric.

To make it a little more sturdy.

As you can see below, the heart ends up being a lot smaller than your heart template

because of the seam allowance you have to use.

7) Add a bead and a loop on the top

As you can see I used just plain sewing thread.

I'm going to use the heart charm in my fabric book that I'm making

and haven't yet decided on where it will come.

You could use something else though, like a thin ribbon.

Go in at the bottom with your needle.

Come out on the top, leaving a few centimeters of thread or ribbon sticking out of the bottom.

Add a small bead by going with your needle and thread through it.

Go round one time through this bead to secure (otherwise it will fall off).

I added a knot here to secure it even further.

Make a loop at the top of your heart.

Go back in with your needle and thread and come out at the bottom.

Pull on both ends of the thread (or ribbon) to get the bead tight to the top of your heart.

8) Now add your beads to the thread

Your last bead should be a small one

but bigger than the hole of the bead you added before that.

When you have threaded the last small bead,

go back in to the other beads.

(If you're using a ribbon for this, then you can probably just make a knot under the last bead

without having to go back up again. In that case, skip step 8.)

9) Go back in to the bottom of your heart and come back up on the top.

Secure the thread by making a knot on the top of your thread, under the small bead there.

As you can see I made a tiny stitch there.

I then pulled my thread through, but not all the way.
There will be a small loop there if you haven't pulled the thread totally through.

I got my needle through that tiny loop and then pulled through completely.

Now you have a small knot there.

I do this a second time to make sure it's really secure.

Et voila, my little denim heart charm.

Now where will I add it...

Ohhh, I just love denim with lace!

May be here?

Who knows...

We'll find out later no doubt :)

For sure it will be added to my fabric journal that is still a work in progress.

But it could be charming hanging on a bag too. Or as a brooch on a blouse...

More fabric DIYs?

Be sure to check out my Pinterest board Fabric Tutorials and Tips!

Many sweet crafting moments to you!

xx Wen