Christmas is a wonderful time. Our homes are filled with magic, wonder and the warming scents of spices and fruit. Houses lit up with twinkling fairy lights, roaring fires and thick fluffy blankets to snuggle up into on these long dark nights. It is plain to see why it is one of my favourite times of year.

Making gifts for my family and friends has always been very special to me. Each gift is handmade with the recipient in mind, not found on a shop shelf. This year, I have thoroughly enjoyed turning my hand to christmas decorations once again, some of which are gifts for loved ones, others are for my own tree!

An especially enjoyable and popular design has been my up-cycled and thrifted heart decorations! These have been made from scraps from my tweed box, up-cycled materials, lovely lace and vintage buttons. With the added charm of the fowl feathers, they have added a little something extra to my Christmas decor.

The key to making your own heart decoration is the placement of the materials you are using. I spend a good amount of time perfecting the layout of the hearts, choosing which buttons compliment the weave of the tweed and the delicate lace trim.

To make your own heart like Patterjack and Tweed you will need :

1 x Curtain Ring

2 x Pieces of Tweed or another medium weight fabric

1 x Ribbon hanging loop.

Various lace and ribbon scraps

Feathers

A choice of buttons

A small amount of stuffing

Matching or contrasting thread to stitch it up.

Pen

The joy of these hearts is that they can be entirely hand sewn or machine sewn depending on your preference.

Start by selecting your fabric scraps , I have used the offcuts from a lovely pair of curtains I altered for a friend. The tartan pattern just screamed ‘Christmas Decoration’ to me.

Draw out your shape on the wrong side of your fabric . You can obviously pin this if you wish but as it will be on the inside- no one needs to know! Cut out your shapes with fabric scissors to get the cleanest cut.

Once cut, lay your pieces face up and get creative. Prepare for the fact this process is the longest part of your make ! Take your time to get the layout just right. The joy with this process (applique) is you can layer and layer to your hearts content and use whatever you fancy!

As you can see from the photographs, I added the words ‘Joyeux Noel’ to my heart using a bit of cotton tape, stamps and fabric ink. You could of course add your recipents name or their favourite christmas song.

Stitch on your decorations. You may need to pin them into place to stop them moving around from your perfect position. I have used super glue to attach the feathers to the back of the buttons .

Once your front piece is decorated to your liking, you need to sew the back on. Sandwich these pieces together and pin in place your ribbon hanging loop in the middle of the two pieces. Thread your curtain ring through the ribbon to create the perfect hanging loop. Stitch around the outside, leaving a small gap for stuffing !

Stuff your creation with the filling of your choice. I have used a small bit of polyester stuffing I had left over from a toy project. You could use wool scraps, small fabric scraps or even lavender to make it scented.Make sure you stitch this hole up afterwards ! You dont want any spillages!

Trim off any loose threads and admire your handicraft !

These make beautiful tree decorations, handbag charms, door knob ‘hangies’ or key rings. The possibilities are endless and they are an absolute joy to make.

Have a wonderful Christmas

Kathy-anne

Patterjack and Tweed

Get Creative this Christmas with Kathy-Anne Vincent