I’m back today with another version of the Happy Heart Ornament I have been sharing this week! I love sewing with scraps and improvisational piecing is one of my favorite ways to turn otherwise unusable small fragments of fabric into fun and beautiful creations. I especially love when you have held on to precious small bits of a beloved fabric for years and you can make it into something sweet that showcases your cherished pieces. The pink panda and plaid fabrics in that top right ornament are some of my favorites that I have been using up the very last pieces of for years. I love how they came together in this ornament and I will treasure it and enjoy pulling it out for Valentine’s Day every year.
I am going to share a quick tutorial on how I pieced these ornaments today, but if you need help finishing your heart ornament you can click back to the original Happy Heart Ornament Tutorial I posted earlier.
DOWNLOAD THE HAPPY HEART ORNAMENT PATTERN HERE
You Will Need For This Tutorial
- Fabric scraps: I used pinks, reds, and whites
- Batting scraps: at least 5.5″ wide by 4.5″ tall
- Sewing Machine
- All purpose thread (I use this*)
- Scissors (These are the ones I use in this tutorial*)
- Rotary cutter (This is optional, you can just use scissors, but I find rotary cutters very handy. This is mine and my favorite ever since it is pink*)
- Quilting ruler (Also optional, but I default to using them and they’re very helpful for squaring the batting and fabric bits. I used my amazing unicorn one for this project*)
- Fabric marking pen or pencil (I use Frixion*)
You Will Need To Finish Your Ornament (See my previous tutorial for more info)
- Pins (These are my favorite*
- Chopstick for turning (optional)
- Hand sewing needles (Anything like this works*)
- Scrap yarn or embroidery floss for hanger
- Sharp tapestry needle (For adding yarn hanger. Something like this.*)
1. Unlike the other versions of this ornament I have shared, I used a piece of scrap batting as a foundation to create my improv piecing and did not stuff the ornament. You could improv piece your sides without the batting and stuff it like in the patchwork version, but I like the stability the batting provides here. Cut (2) pieces of batting that are 5.5″ wide and 4.5″ tall. I make my improv piecing oversized so that you can cut it to size when cutting out your heart.
2. Gather all of your fabric scraps and spread them out so you can see what you are working with. Pick one piece as you center. I picked this rose and hearts piece because I thought it would be a good center and I also liked the size of it. On the other side of this ornament I picked a small triangle which made for an interesting almost rounded shape in my piecing. You might have a good sized piece for the center in your scrap selection, but feel free to cut a larger piece of fabric to size. This is also a good spot to add a cherished fussy cut scrap piece.
3. Dig through your scraps and find a piece of fabric that you like how it looks next to your center piece. You might find one the same or similar size as you center, but I ended up cutting mine to size. I placed this larger piece next to my center piece and then just used my scissors to trim it to be about the same size as my center fabric and straighten up the edges.
4. You can see the two pieces are about the same size. One of my favorite things about improv piecing is that you don’t have to be super accurate and it is easy to fudge things that aren’t perfect.
5. Leave your center piece where it is and place the second piece so that the two right sides are facing and the edges more or less line up. Sew the pieces together on the batting using a 1/4″ seam allowance from the edge of the fabric pieces.
6. Press the piece you just sewed open. I use my iron, but if you wanted you could just use a seam roller. I have this one* and it works well. You could even leave it and your scraps at your machine and not get up and down as much as I did…..
7. Go back to your scraps and find another piece that either matches up with the second piece you just sewed, or you could add one to the other side of you center piece. Trim it to be about the same size if necessary.
8. Place this piece so that the right sides are facing each other and the edges line up and sew it to your batting like you did in Step 5.
9. Again press this piece open like you did before in Step 6.
10. And repeat! Back to your scraps. I tend to work in kind of a circle, sort of piecing like a log cabin block, until I cover the batting. This particular piece I went to the left a bit, then started circling around like a log cabin.
11. Back to your machine, sew the scrap onto the others. Press it open.
12. And so on, covering your batting piece with fabric and making a lovely improv pieced rectangle.
13. Voila, finished heart ornament side!
14. Follow the directions again with your second batting rectangle and your remaining scraps to make your second side. You could also make a bigger batting piece and only piece one rectangle big enough to cut both heart sides from. My brain likes having two separate side pieces.
15. I like to play around with the heart placement before starting to cut. This is where the oversized improv piece comes in handy, you can play around with where to cut the heart for different looks.
16. This is how mine looked once cut. Now it is time to finish sewing your ornament, you can check out the original tutorial for more instructions. The only thing I did differently on these is I didn’t stuff them beyond the batting. I like that all of my ornaments have different shapes or dimensions I guess, even though they are all hearts. If you prefer to stuff yours, go for it! I’m sure it will look adorable stuffed as well.
This is the back side of the three ornaments from the first photo. I love how unique they are on both sides, it makes them perfect for hanging. I have mine hanging on a lovely branch in a vase, I will share a photo with you soon. I was also thinking that a bunch of hearts strung together would make an adorable garland. There is so much you can do with such a simple pattern! I can’t wait to see what you come up with. Please use the hashtag #B’sHappyHeartOrnament on social media so I can find your creations.
Alright friends, I will be back AGAIN tomorrow with one last variation of the pattern! This one will use even smaller scraps then we have used so far. And then I will have a different Valentine’s Day themed knitting project for you after that. So much to make, woohoo!
Here are all of the links from this series:
Tutorial #1: The Happy Heart Ornament
Tutorial #2: The Patchwork Happy Heart Ornament
Tutorial #4: The Sashiko/Boro Inspired Happy Heart Ornament
Happy sewing-
*Links marked with * are affiliate links that I may earn a small commission from at no cost to you in order to help me keep my blog and free tutorials like this one going.
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