If you’ve ever stepped into a Scandinavian home, you’ve likely noticed the charming woven heart decorations adorning the space. These lovely Scandi hearts, also known as pleated hearts, aren’t just for Valentine’s Day; they’re perfect for Christmas and year-round decor.
Ever since I spotted these gorgeous woven hearts while visiting relatives in Norway, I’ve been eager to make my own.
After taking down all the Christmas decorations, my mantle looked a bit bare. I decided to add some cheer by creating my own woven hearts garland to hang on it.
While Scandi hearts are often made from paper or felt in two contrasting colors, I decided to upcycle some of my favorite fabrics: denim and sweater wool.
These woven hearts garlands cost almost nothing to make. You just need a few scraps of denim and old felted sweaters to create the Scandi hearts. I’ve also made some Scandi embroidered hearts, which you might want to check out.
What You Need To Make A Scandi Woven Hearts Garland:
- Paper template – Available to download [here](insert link)
- Denim scraps from old jeans
- One long seam from the inside legs of a pair of jeans
- Felted wool scraps from old sweaters or craft felt
- Pen, iron, scissors, and glue (or needle and thread)
How To Make A Woven Hearts Garland:
Step 1: Cut out the paper template and fold it in half lengthways. Cut the slits where marked.
Step 2: First, fold the scrap piece of denim you will use in half and iron in a sharp crease. Place the folded paper template on top of the denim, lining up the fold in the paper with the fold in the denim. Draw around the template with a pen.
Step 3: Next, cut out this shape and cut in the slits. If you don’t want the denim cut edges to fray, spread a little fabric glue around the edges, as this will stop it from happening.
Step 4: Repeat the last two steps with the felted fabric. The felt does not fray, so no need to glue the edges.
Step 5: For the next step, you need to weave the two heart halves together. This is a little fiddly, but fortunately, the fabric is flexible and won’t tear.
Step 6: Finally, to finish off the heart, stitch the open round top sides together. Carry on making woven hearts until you have enough for a garland. You can always use fabric glue if you don’t want to sew.
Step 7: Finally, lay out the Scandi hearts in the order you want the colors to appear. Then glue or stitch them to a long denim seam. You can always use twine for this part if you don’t have one.
All that’s left to do is decide where to hang your Scandinavian heart garland. I like to hang mine on the door to my bedroom. I might just put it on the mantle for Valentine’s week. It’s my birthday on Valentine’s day, so I like to put some decorations up!
This Valentine’s sewing project is featured in the A to Z of denim crafts and in this collection of adult Valentine crafts. There is a tutorial for making the paper version of these woven fabric hearts in this collection of DIY Scandinavian decorations. The paper ones can be opened up to form little hanging baskets for the Christmas tree. As well as making denim hearts, I also make patchwork denim stars.
If you liked this post, you might want to check out some of my other scrap denim and sweater wool posts.
