Warm Up Loved Ones With Handmade Hearts

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Sore back? Cold hands? Stinky drawers? (Now I’ve got you curious…)

Actually, I’m talking about these charming yet oh so useful handmade hearts. A few seconds in the microwave and these hearts are warm and wonderful. The Big-Hearted Heating Pads are perfectly sized to ease aches and pains while the little Sweet- Hearts are pocket sized for warming chilly hands. These little hearts also just happen to smell fabulous; making them the perfect addition to dresser drawers, linen closets or even stinky shoes or cars.

And their gifting possibilities are endless!

Really, who wouldn’t love to receive a delightful little three pack of these cuties? Teachers, thank you’s, feel better, just thinking of you….. Yep, whip up a baker’s dozen of these and you have the perfect heartfelt gifts ready and waiting. Hearts aren’t only for Valentine’s Day you know.

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Last week I found an excuse to visit my favorite local fabric shop, Modern Quilting. On my second lap of the store I spotted the new Riley Blake cotton line Kewpie Love. What!?! Do you know that feeling of ecstatic excitement that is no longer appropriate to display in public because you… me… we are adults? (Funny how grammatically there is a question mark at the end of that statement.) Well, that’s totally how I felt when I saw Kewpie Love! My heart went into over drive while I concentrated on keeping my feet on the floor and my ‘I can’t believe it’ inhale breath to a lightly audible sigh. I know. It’s a bit silly but to explain this, I have to go back to 1909.

In 1909 an illustrator by the name of Rose O’Neill invented the Kewpie characters for a comic strip published in the Ladies Home & Journal. O’Neill was the first published female cartoonist in the United States and her funny and adorable Kewpie stories exploded in popularity.

 

 

 In 1912 she came out with a line of Kewpie paper dolls called Kewpie Kutouts and soon afterwards, the first bisque dolls were manufactured in Germany. Kewpie adoration soared and for a time, O’Neill was the highest paid illustrator in the world. Her Kewpie characters were used to sell Colgate, Kellogg’s and Sears and even played a role in the Women’s Suffrage movement.

 

Fast forward to 1970-ish. Like most kids, I was afraid of the dark when I was little and so my Mom got me this sweet Kewpie night light. It was the last thing I saw every night before I fell asleep and I loved it. The Kewpie characters are so whimsical; always trying to help others’ get out of bad situations in kind yet funny ways. Seeing that fabric brought these sweet memories back to me and so of course, I HAD to use the Kewpie fabric for these handmade hearts.

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The ingredients for these handmade hearts are very simple.

First, chose a fabric made from durable cotton so there won’t be any problem putting the heart in the microwave. Flannel can be a very cozy choice and you can find ‘manly’ prints for the guys in your life.

Lining your fabric with batting will give your hearts durability and also helps retain the warmth of the heated filling. Look for fusible batting or fleece which can be ironed on to the back side of your fabric. Don’t go too thick though – especially on the little sweet heart hand warmers.

There is an abundance of info out there about which filling is best for microwaveable heating pads. Some of it just comes down to personal preference and availability but you also want to consider comfort, heat retention and smell.

•  Comfort: If the heart will be a heating pad, think about it’s bulk, weight and shape. Corn kernels can be used but in my opinion, they are big and bulky. I look for things with a rounded shape that will move smoothly.
• Heat Retention: The awesome people at Sew4Home tested the heat retention of Flax, Rice and Corn. For me, this is probably the least important of the three factors but it is good information to help you make your decision.
• Smell: Some natural fillers can smell a bit funky when heated. Essential oils may help BUT if you have a sensitive nose, you will want to experiment/research. In my opinion, flax may retain the heat really well but it has a weird smell when warmed – even with essential oils. I’ve read that brown rice can smell funny too so many people chose simple white rice.

 

My favorite filling? French Lentils. The are a good size, smooth-edged, move fluidly, heat nicely and don’t smell funky. White short-grained rice is my runner up because it is more economical.

 

Once you have all your supplies gathered, look for a simple heart shape template on-line. Just do a Google search for ‘heart shape images’. Copy the image into Word where you can manipulate the size. When you are happy with your template, print it and cut it out. As a reference, I used two sizes. The template I used for the Big-Hearted Heating Pads are about 10.5″ across at the widest point and 7″ from the base of the ”v” to the bottom point of the heart. The template for the Sweet-Heart Hand Warmers/Sachets were 4.5″ at the widest point and 4″ from the base of the “v” to the bottom point.

Iron on the fusible fleece to the back of all your fabric pieces. Trace your pattern onto the fleece with a heat sensitive pen and then cut out your hearts.

 

 

 

 

If you are doing any applique on the front of your heart (like on the Big-Hearted Heating Pads) you will do that BEFORE you sew your front and back together. I used a blanket stitch to sew my applique on and I love how it looks like a ruffle. There’s a great blanket stitch tutorial on the Craftsy Blog.

 

 

With the ‘right’ or ‘pretty’ sides of your fabric together, sew around the heart using a fairly small stitch so your filling can’t escape. Make sure to leave a 1″ opening on the small hearts and a 2″ opening on the large hearts so that you can turn the fabric right-side out and pour in the filling.

 

 

OPTIONAL: Find an essential oil that you like the smell of. Most essential oils have therapeutic qualities but if you can’t stand the smell you will never use the heart. So, find a smell you like! I like Aura Cacia pure essential oils, especially the Fresh and Indulge scents. Healing Solutions Essential Oils are really good too (love the Joy Blend) and they are right here in Scottsdale, AZ. You can always go with a simple lavender oil too.

 

 

Place your filling in a bowl or gallon size zip-lock bag. Add your essential oil and remember, it is very potent. For one pound of filling I would use about 8 drops of essential oil. I had about 3.5 pounds of lentils and I used 20 drops of the Indulge oil. Stir or shake your filling thoroughly to distribute the scent.

Don’t over fill your hearts.  You don’t want them to be rock hard. Ideally, fill the hearts to about 85-90% of their volume.

 

 

 

Lastly, fold in the raw edges of your opening and whip stitch it closed.

 

 

 

 

There you have it. What a sweet and warmhearted way to tell someone how much you appreciate them.

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