How to Embroider a Heart Garland for Valentine's Day

Get ready for Love Day with this simple hand-embroidered heart garland. This will add the perfect handmade touch to your decor.

The heart of each of these projects is embroidery by simple stitching, and periodic patterns make a festive statement. If you want to showcase your own sewing skills, you can choose stitches that are a bit more complicated. Or, if you want to get into some practice, turn this banner into a sample! Create each heart with a fresh new stitch or stitch combination.

The finished garland measures about six feet long with a flax 9 inch flag. You can adjust the size by sewing different numbers of flags or by reducing the pattern and banner piece size.

What You'll Need
Equipment / Tools
•    1 Iron
•    1 Scissors
•    1 Needle
•    1 Ruler
Materials
•    1 yard Linen
•    1 yard Mid-weight fusible interfacing
•    1 Water-soluble stabilizer
•    2 Perle cotton embroidery floss (this example uses DMC 309 & 899)
•    1 Striped heart pattern

1. Attach Interfacing

Iron behind linen following manufacturer's instructions will give the interfacing wreath flags more structure and will help prevent pigmentation.

2. Cut Heart Shapes
Download the striped heart pattern. When printed at 100%, each heart should measure approximately 5.5 inches across.

Find or print a heart pattern on a water-soluble stabilizer. You need five hearts. Cut around each heart and attach it to linen, leaving space between each heart to cut the flags.

If you prefer, you can identify your pattern with other patterns. The water-soluble stabilizer method is effective, especially when working with linen.

3.Working the Heart Embroidery

Sew each heart back around and stitch the strips with a different stitch to your liking.
This example uses two hearts with coral stitching and three hearts with steep cross stitched (these are straight along the diagonal line but appear as standard cross stitch when the heart is straight).

Any stitch that can be worked along a line is perfect for this project. Even every heart can have a sewing mix.

4. Preparing the Garland Pieces

When all the stitching is complete, soak the embroidery to remove the water-soluble stabilizer. Gently drain any excess water and let it dry.

Sometimes the process of working with fabric as you sew, as well as from soaking, can begin to lift from the back of the interfacing work. Fortunately, it should comply with good dressing once more.

Even if the interfacing doesn't lift, your embroidery needs to be ironed to smooth the linen.

5. Cut the Pieces
Measure and cut each banner piece 7 x 9 inches. If you have a malignant ruler, you can equip the indent and point of the heart with a 3.5-inch mark.

6. Assemble the Garland

Identify the top of each index flag for stitching through the string. Measure 3/4 inches from the top and then mark the 1, 3, 4 and 6-inch markings.

Cut a 4 yard piece of pearl cotton into two pieces and slide the needle all the way around the center.
Sew through each mark, coming from the back to the top during the first marking, descending through the second, and so on. Slide the flag across the flask, and continue adding banner pieces. Space flags evenly.