D.I.Y. Hanging Stuffed Heart with Gift Pocket

I made this for The Cupcake for Valentine's day {LAST YEAR!} and thought you'd all like to know how.  It took me a while to actually write the tutorial, and it's mostly pictures since I'm not so good with verbal directions. BUT, I think it's a good idea starter and something you can easily adapt for your personal style!  Good Luck!

I started with some scrap fabric. 

I drew half a heart

Cut it out. 

Then, used it as a template for the other side. 

I found a part of the fabric that matched up with the front heart, to use as a pocket, for Cupcake's notes on Valentines day. 

See? perfect match! 

Then I cut out a triangle shape using the base of the heart template. 

I ended up with this weird shape since I was working with scraps but I folded and cut to make it symmetrical. 

Below you can see how it looks on the heart cut out.

I used a rectangle scrap for the hanging part of the pillow {but set it aside for later} 

To clean up the triangle pocket I folded over the top and gave it a hem so it looked complete. 

Below: no more raw edge on top!

After hemming the top, I folded over the raw edges of the pocket to attach it to the front of the heart.

I sewed each side of the pocket onto the front heart

above; sewing, below; complete.

Repeat on other side.

Now the pocket was attached!

Next, I sewed the rectangle scrap into the "handle" or hanging piece

Above: the rectangle scrap, below: folded in half long ways {"hotdog" style}, pretty side facing each other.

Sew straight down {I ALWAYS back stitch at the beginning and end}

 I used the ribbon safety pin trick to flip it right side out... 

attach it to the tube, feed through with another safety pin attached only to the ribbon and gently tug, it's so much easier than trying to flip the tube inside out by itself.  The pictures below will probably explain it better than me as well...

Above; feeding it though the tube

Below; unattached end it out, so tug gently and guide the tube inside out. 

Keep pulling!

Done! 

Above; you can see the seam side. 

Place the tube between the two hearts.  PRETTY SIDES FACING EACH OTHER. In the photo above I messed it up, DO NOT SEW UGLY sides facing each other, it's a pillow, and I flipped it inside out!

I was able to work with this mistake, so you can too, basically just get the handle attached to the heart.

Face the pretty sides towards each other. 

Tuck handle into the hearts, so when the pillow is flipped inside out, it will hang correctly.

Sew all around the heart, leaving just the bottom triangle open enough to flip the pillow inside out. 

Grab the handle from the inside and pull it, it will flip the whole thing right side out. 

Below; the heart is ready to be stuffed! 

I used this poly-fill because I had some left over from a project, but you could also use scrap fabric shredded {which is what I normally stuff pillows with} 

Stuff, stuff, stuff until full. 

Then, close up the heart by grabbing the bottom...

folding as below 

pinning to keep secure 

and sewing shut.

DON'T FORGET TO BACK STITCH! 

Careful not to sew the pins!

Once complete, hang from door knob and stuff full of little love notes!

You can also follow along on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and Tumblr!

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