Easy Felt Hearts – Machine Sewing for Kids
We love easy Sewing Projects for Kids – in the past we have mainly hands sewn but have occassionally had a go at the sewing machine. Today we have a great guest post from Stephanie, showing us how to make Easy Felt Hearts – Machine Sewing for kids!
These make great Felt Heart Necklaces or Heart Ornaments!
Hi, I’m Stephanie from Swoodson Says and I’m excited to join in on the 31 Days of Love Series with Red Ted Art! My kids and I have used lots of Maggy’s fun ideas and I hope my activity inspires you to bust out some simple sewing with the kids in your life!
This project has a lot of wiggle room for creative interpretation and working with whatever supplies you have on hand. I used it as a way to practice both hand and machine sewing, but you can make it exclusively by hand and/or use fabric glue to add embellishments instead of sewing them on!
It took roughly 30 minutes to make a necklace from start to finish with my 4.5 year old. With hand sewing only, this would be an easy project to do with a group or in a class setting and it makes a great gift!
If you’re new to sewing with kids, I have a few posts you should read! First up, a look at the best sewing machines for kids, please save yourself some hassle and skip the $20 cheapie toy ones!
If you’re set on a machine or working solely by hand, read through my best tips and tricks for teaching how to sew and keep the experience positive and fun. Lastly, if you have fun making this necklace, plan for your next project and choose one of these 20+easy projects to get kids sewing!
Easy Felt Hearts using a Sewing Machine – Materials
- sheet of soft felt (the stiff acrylic stuff won’t work as well in this project, I love wool blend!)
- heart template PDF printable, or draw & cut out your own freehand
- pen
- buttons or other embellishments
- sewing machine & coordinating thread
- hand sewing needle
- glue stick
- ribbon or yarn
- fray check or lighter
- scissors
- small bit of stuffing (we use old pillows as stuffing)
- clips, I used quilting clips but alligator hair clips work just as well
How to sew Felt Hearts on a sewing machine?
Steps
Step 1- Trace & cut out two heart shapes from wool felt.
Step 2- Sew or glue on embellishments, making to sure to keep clear about ¼” around the edge so you have room to sew.
Step 3- Cut two pieces of ribbon or yarn, roughly 16” long, using the lighter or fray check to keep the ends from fraying. Use the glue stick to position one end of each on the “wrong” side of the heart, that shows the pen marks.
Step 4- Clip the front and back together, so the ribbon is sandwiched in between. Sew around the edges, with a few stitches back and forth when you begin and end the stitching line, and leaving a 1” gap (indicated with the scissors).
Step 5- Insert a small amount of stuffing through the hole, sew to close, and you’re done!
More great Sewing Projects for Kids:
More great Easy Heart Crafts for kids:
