Snowdays, snowdays!...I love {or should I say, I <3} them!...a mini-holiday, where we are forced to stay home and create our own fun...what could be better? I've been busying myself with a little snowday stitchery...

Embroidered linen sachets filled with lavender {you know about the moth repelling qualities of lavender, right?...it's very helpful in keeping those little guys away from your woolens}.

This was such a fun project...wonderful in so many ways. As I made these, I loved thinking about the future recipients of these hearts and tailoring the message to each...

Embroidering on the linen was so yummy...I really do think that linen is to sewing what wool is to knitting—pure tactile pleasure—and even though my embroidery skills are woefully lacking, I enjoyed each and every stitch of this project. Most of the hearts have embroidery on just one side, but others have it on the front...

and on the back...

Like I said...I had fun, fun, fun with this project! They whip up in a snap and once you get going, you won't want to stop. Here are the instructions, step by step...

Gathering your materials...

~a cookie cutter or cardboard cut-out to use as a stencil for your sachet

~embroidery needles

~embroidery floss

~linen, cotton, or fabric of choice

~embroidery hoop

~straight pins

~sewing needles and sewing thread

~dried lavender {or roving or polyfil stuffing if you want to make a pillow instead of a sachet}

~an iron

~dressmaker's pencil or marker

~scissors

* Most food co-ops sell dried lavender in their spice section. For those of you who can't find lavender near your home, I am completely sympathetic—there isn't a source near me either. I just checked for some online sources though, and here are a couple: This site looks like they have a nice selection and good prices—I've not used them, but plan to try them out in the future. I have used this Etsy site—it costs a bit more, but the lavender they sent is lovely and the service was prompt. Hope this helps.

Getting started...

First, trace the outline of your sachet onto the piece of fabric and center your message within, making sure that you center your message and allow for a 1/2" seam allowance...

Once your design is on the fabric, put it in the embroidery hoop and begin stitching. I used the stem stitch for mine...it is a good stitch for a wavy, loopy and yet bold line. I am including some in-progress pictures of my stitching here. If you've never embroidered before, I suggest you check out this fine site. Here is her video tutorial of the stem stitch...it and the others offered are excellent.

Cut a length of embroidery floss {about 24"}. The floss is made up of 6 strands. Divide the 6 strands of your length of floss into two groups of 3 strands each. Thread the embroidery needle with a group of 3 strands—you want to use a needle with an eye big enough to accommodate the floss, but that is also thin enough to avoid leaving a hole in your fabric. Knot the end of the floss, and starting from the back of the work, bring the needle from back to front {wrong side to right side} at the base of the first letter in your message—you will be working from left to right if you work your message in stem stitch.
Begin embroidering your message...

As you go along, make sure that you hold the thread down, like so...

To avoid big floats of floss on the back of your work, stitch the lines that are connected to one another first and then add the cross lines and loops where needed. Here is the way my xoxo heart looked as I went along...front...

back...

and front again...

After the embroidery is done, it is time to cut the heart out. Remember to leave a 1/2" seam allowance all the way around your heart...

You will need to cut out a backing for each heart as well...

Once the heart and its backing are cut, pin the front and back together with the right sides together...

Sew the heart together {by hand or machine}, beginning at one side and leaving an opening to fill the heart {the opening should be about 1 1/2"}. If you begin and end your heart at the spots indicated in the picture below, it will be easy to fill and seam later...

Once you have seamed around the heart, trim the seam allowances. To avoid puckering make a snip, up to but not over the seam at various points around the heart. You will do this at the center of the heart and around the curved sections of the heart—this is especially important at the cleft of the heart...

Turn the heart right side out, using a knitting needle to push the curves and the point of the heart into place. Snip any loose threads and iron the heart before filling it.

Now it is time to fill...I used lavender for mine...heavenly! Fill so that the sachet is plumped up a bit, but not overly full—you want the lavender to move around in the sachet...

Sew the hole closed. This may very well be the most blissful sewing I've ever done...the feel of the pressed linen and the smell of the lavender is absolutely delicious...

And before you know it...voila!...

Just one quick thing more...

Last, but certainly not least!...Thank you, thank you for the nice comments to my last post!...you guys are so lovely. I am flattered by your kind words, am ever so grateful to those of you who linked to the post—and of course, I am over the moon about it's inclusion in whip-up! Thank you from {dare I say it?...} the bottom of my heart! Happy stitching!...

xoxo~alison