Finishing Hearts ~ "Betsy" Style ~

 

Since a couple people wondered, I thought I'd give you a quick how-to finish the hearts.  The finished heart is about 10" x 10", give or take a little.  After the hooking is complete, I cut out the heart leaving about 1" - 1 1/2" of linen.  I then zigzag around to prevent fraying.

 

I just thought I'd show the back so you could see how far apart the hooking is.

I use fray check in the crook of the heart and press the linen to the back.

 

I then lay pieces of wool on the wrong side of the heart.

 

CAREFULLY begin to trim away the excess wool.  It's better to trim away too little and continue to trim more.  I do not fold the edges under.  I then use a straight stitch (a whip stitch that is not slanted - does that make sense?) to sew all the pieces together.  Be sure to stitch only the wool and not catch the backside of the heart.  After you've stitched all the patches together, whip stitch your patchwork to the heart.  I leave an opening and lightly stuff the heart with wool snippets and a lavender sachet and then continue to stitch closed.

Time consuming, but worth the effort.  It takes me longer to do the patchwork back than it does to hook the heart.

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren