Felt Valentine Crafts: Twelve Projects, Sewn and Felted

Felt is the ideal Valentine material for one structural reason: it has no grain and no weave, so a cut edge is a finished edge. No hemming, no fraying, no seam allowance. That removes most of what makes sewing slow and makes the whole category accessible to people who do not sew at all.

What felt to buy

• Wool-blend felt, around 1 mm. The sensible default — good colour, clean cut, sensible price.
• 100% wool felt, 1–2 mm. Richer colour, better drape, considerably more expensive. Worth it for anything given as a gift.
• Acrylic craft felt. Cheapest, thinnest, pills quickly, and it can scorch under a hot glue gun. Fine for children's cutting practice.
• Felt you made yourself. Wet felted sheets in your own colours — see wet felting for beginners.

The differences between them are set out properly in wool felt fabric.

Under fifteen minutes

Heart garland

Cut twenty hearts in three sizes and two or three related colours. Either thread them onto twine with a large needle straight through the middle, or machine-stitch a line down the centre of a row of hearts with the presser foot running over each one. The machine version is faster and hangs better.

Felt Valentine cards

A folded card, a felt heart glued to the front, and a running stitch around the edge in embroidery thread. Layer two hearts in different sizes for depth.

Bookmarks

A strip of felt with a heart glued to one end, or a heart with a slit cut in it that slides over the page corner.

Conversation hearts

Pastel felt hearts with words cut from white felt or written in fabric pen. Glue them to a garland or scatter them on a table.

Half an hour

Stuffed hearts

Two heart shapes, blanket stitch around the edge in a contrasting thread, stuffed with wool through the last gap before it is closed. Add a ribbon loop in the notch between the lobes so it hangs straight. Fill with dried lavender rather than stuffing for a scented version.

Heart pins and brooches

A small firm heart, a bar pin stitched to a backing disc, and the disc glued on. Needle felted hearts work better than cut ones here because they can be domed — see felted hearts.

Coasters

Thick wool felt cut into hearts or circles, either single-layer at 3 mm or two 1.5 mm layers glued together. Practical, quick, and they sell.

Heart hair clips

Small felt hearts glued to snap clips — the same construction as felt animal hair clips.

An afternoon

Heart wreath

A card or wire ring covered in felt hearts, overlapping like scales, in a graded run of pinks and reds. Fifty or sixty hearts for a 25 cm ring.

Heart mobile

Stuffed hearts at different heights on threads from a covered ring or a stick.

Needle felted heart pictures

Wool laid onto a felt background in a frame — a heart, initials, a date. The technique is in wool painting.

Anatomical heart

The alternative for people who find the traditional shape too sweet. Needle felted in deep reds with lighter vessels laid on as thin strands. Genuinely striking, and a good exercise in shaping.

Working notes

• Cut with a template. Card, drawn round with chalk pencil on the back. Freehand hearts are never symmetrical.
• Long cuts, not snips. One continuous motion per side of the heart.
• Glue choice. Fabric glue for anything washable; a hot glue gun for speed, at low temperature on synthetic felt.
• Two threads. Use six-strand embroidery thread split to three for visible decorative stitching; it sits better on felt than sewing thread.
• Limit the palette. Three colours plus white looks deliberate. Six looks like a scrap bin.

Storing them for next year

Wool felt decorations spend eleven months in a box, which is exactly when moths find them. Store clean, in a sealed container rather than cardboard — see protecting wool from moths. Acrylic felt has no such problem, which is one argument for using it on things that live in the loft.