project // home heart hoop art

Stitch a sweet and simple housewarming gift with this free pattern and tutorial! Combining a bit of embroidery with some felt craft, it forms a heart of flowers with the word HOME in the middle.

I first started imagining this project a year ago, anticipating a gift for some folks making a big move to a new home. My original gifting plan didn't happen and true to form, I didn't even start making the gift. I wait until I absolutely need to make a thing. Which happened when my neighbor announced that they were moving and the date was faster than I expected.

Now, I've known this neighbor literally my entire life. She came over when I came home from the hospital at just a few days old. I was in her wedding, I grew up friends with her sons, and she called me the daughter she never had. Having her move across the country has been a real loss. Obviously I wanted to make something special for her.

And this hoop idea came to mind again.



To make this hoop, you start with a little stitching and then add a whole bunch of tiny flowers. And to hold those on, each one has just a single french knot.

Ready to give this a go? Here's what you need:

7-inch embroidery hoop
Linen or cotton backing fabric
Wool felt
Embroidery floss
Freezer Paper
Pencil
Scissors
Vanishing ink marker
Embroidery Needle

HOME HEART HOOP ART PATTERN



First, cut out a bunch of tiny felt flower shapes in several colors. I didn't how many I used (but you could from the photoso!), and ended up with some extras that I'll use for another project. When cutting out the little flowers, I used the freezer paper method. It's so helpful!



Trace the heart and home part of the pattern onto your backing fabric. It's best to use a marking pen that disappears over time and without water. This way you won't have to soak your finished fiber art.



Embroider the word HOME with three strands of embroidery floss and chain stitch. Or stitch it however you like!



Finally, start arranging and tacking down the flowers around the heart outline. You can stack the flower shapes and mix up the sizes and colors. To hold them down, I just stitched one or three French knots in the centers. Again, I used a mix of colors that all matched, but also contrasted with the felt flowers.



I just love how the colors and shapes all layer! Also, I carried the thread behind the fabric a bit so I wasn't starting a new thread each time, but I also worked in sections. There's no right or wrong way to do this, but I would recommend not working back and forth across the heart. Try to work along the edge of the shape.



I finished the back of this in the simplest way possible: I trimmed the fabric down a bit, gathered the edge in, and...that's it! Oh, and of course I painted the hoop so it's more frame-like.



My hope is that this will be a bright spot in my neighbor's new home, as well as a reminder of the old.