Heh. It might be a little wonky, but I like this little heart charm very much.

My pets, I am so very distracted today that I’ll keep this post on the short-and-sweet side.  Really, I’m just popping in to show you a little project that I worked on last week: heart charms.  The idea for these little charms has been percolating in my noggin for the longest time, along with a number of other projects, all carefully plotted out in project journals and on assorted scraps of paper, and very few of which ever get made.  Do you keep project journals, too?  If you’re a crafter or maker, you really ought to keep one.  They’re wonderful tools for tracking the ideas that pop into your brain and then usually pop right back out again.  Unlike a traditional journal, project journals eschew any personal details of the writer’s life, which makes them much more appropriate to show to people who aren’t your besty from high school or your therapist.  I discovered project journals some years back, and the discovery rocked my crafting world.  Here’s a shout-out to Mel, who introduced me to the concept, bless her socks.

This idea card will eventually be added to a project journal.

So anyway, there I was last week doing the things that I ought, while also treating myself to some minor gardening and a visit to our local farmer’s market.  (More on those pleasant distractions in upcoming posts.)  And between working on some rather important tasks – I am looking for full-time work, after all – I decided to take a wack at making a little heart-shaped charm for my keys.  Honestly,  the only reason I hadn’t made a charm like this before is that I am RATHER intimidated by machine sewing projects, especially anything with curves.  Sewing curves is a tricky thing for amateurs, but I have committed to becoming the boss of my sewing and therefore persevered.  I certainly learned a number of valuable lessons making the first heart charm, which led to a more polished second attempt.  Equally importantly, I made both of the charms in a matter of hours.

Here is a photo montage of the steps that went into making the first charm.  Click on the individual pictures to see captions with brief notes.  Detailed instructions shan’t be forthcoming – you don’t need ’em, duckies.  Just have a go and see what happens!

I like to use plain Con-Tact paper for my templates – it’s a sturdy material and has a grid pattern on the back.

Con-Tact template cut out and ready to use.

Heart shape traced and placement of loop marked.

Denim pinned and getting cut out. Make sure your material is sturdy enough to handle being turned without ripping.

This trim from M&J Trimming NYC just needed a little reinforcement to serve as loop. The trim looks very sweet with the denim, but it’s too wide for a charm this size – sewing it in gave the heart a squared shoulder on that side.

Clip those curves after you sew the two pieces together wrong-side-out. Did you remember a turing gap? Also, see that little bit at the upper right corner? That’s the loop, which you can use to tug the charm right-side-out.

Stuffing the charm with cotton and some camomile flowers.

Note to self: camomile quickly looses its scent…

Hand sewing the turning gap closed.

As I mentioned, I was so pleased with the way the first charm came out that I made a second one in half the time.  This time I used bias tape from Britex Fabric, also reinforced with cotton twill tape.  Next time I’ll use an aromatic that has better staying power: the scent of camomile flowers fades away rather quickly.

And on that note, I bid you a pleasant week, my pets.  I simply must scurry: I have a SVdP donation run to make, some interview questions to formulate, and an Excel spreadsheet to whip into shape.  Tune in next week to take a trip to the farmer’s market, and to learn how I preserve garlic and make pickled onions.  It’ll be such fun!  – Fondly, yr little munakins