
Trim the Tree
Deck the branches of your festive fir with these charming heart embellishments
You will need...
Hearts, wooden, three
Fabric, cotton, checked, 3 different colours
Ribbon, burgundy, 1.5cm wide
Stars, laser-punched
Interfacing, iron-on
Glue stick
Cotton twill, heavy, cream,l 30cm x 40cm
Card blank, aperture, cream
Tape, double-sided
These pretty decorations are very quick and easy to make, but will give your room a lovely home-spun look. Although the hearts themselves are made from wood, they are surprisingly light and would look great suspended on a tree or even hung on door handles for a simple, yet elegant look. The folk-style motifs can also decorate a bag to store them in, and they look equally effective on a Christmas greeting.
Decorations
Use the template and trace six hearts onto iron-on interfacing. Roughly snip each shape and iron onto the back of the cotton fabric (two hearts on each colour). Cut out.
Peel off the paper backing from the interfacing and stick the fabric hearts onto the wooden decorations, using a glue stick, ensuring all the edges are pressed down securely.
Carefully trim six laser-punched hearts and adhere one on each side of the decoration, in the middle of the fabric shape. Trim three lengths of ribbon, 30cm each and loop through the ring at the top of the heart. Tie the ends so that the decoration can be hung up.
Gift Bag
Fold over the top edge (40cm) of the cream twill fabric twice and press with an iron. Pin and sew to make a hem. Trace three stars onto interfacing and roughly cut out. Iron each shape onto a different coloured checked fabric and trim round.
Peel off the paper backing and arrange the stars in the centre of the cream fabric, about 6cm up from the bottom (raw) edge. Iron to fix in place. Fold the twill in half, inside out, and pin. Sew the seam.
Open the edges of the seam and iron flat, positioning it to be at the centre back. With the pouch still inside-out, pin and sew the bottom edge. Turn through to the right side and press. Sew a 45cm length of ribbon at the back of the bag, about 5cm down from the top.
Card
Trim checked fabric larger than the aperture in your card blank, as a background. Back the other two fabrics with interfacing and cut strips. Position the fabrics so that you have a horizontal striped effect, using all three checks.
Iron the pieces to fix in place. Mount the fabric panel into the card using double-sided tape. Stick a laser punched heart in the centre to finish.
The pouch is easy to make, and can be used to store the decorations in throughout the year, or as a beautiful hand-made gift bag
Top Tips
Back your fabric hearts with iron-on interfacing before cutting to avoid frayed edges.
Useful Links
http://www.panduro.co.uk - wooden hearts (pack of 3) from Panduro Hobby
http://www.thehobbyhouse.co.uk - Karen-Marie-Klip laser punched hearts (Stella)












