Thread your way into someone’s heart with this hot glue heart embroidery craft! This clever project uses hot glue to create a base shape to embroider over, perfect for adding a handmade touch to your Valentine’s Day. Whether you’re new to embroidery or looking for a unique spin on a classic craft, this project is as creative as it is satisfying.
Display your finished hearts as wall art, decorate old tote bags, or gift them to loved ones for a thoughtful keepsake. With its charming texture and endless color possibilities, this craft is a heartfelt way to celebrate the season of love!
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Hot Glue Heart Embroidery
Materials:
- FREE Printable Heart Template
- Monk’s cloth (or aida cloth, etc)
- Embroidery floss
Watch the step-by-step video tutorial:
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
- Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Prepare your fabric
- Cut a piece of fabric (such as monk’s cloth, aida, linen, or similar) to be 1 to 2 inches bigger than your embroidery hoop.
- Insert the fabric into your embroidery hoop and pull it tight.
- Print one of our free heart templates (find the link in the materials list above) and cut the heart shape of your choice (one that fits nicely in your hoop).
- Trace around the heart with a pencil or washable fabric marker.
Step 3: Add the embroidered heart
- Trace along the heart shape with hot glue. Allow the glue to fully dry.
- Cut 1 full piece of embroidery floss to be about 48 inches long. Thread it through a large-eyed needle and tie the ends together in a knot, so your double thread is 24 inches long.This gives you 12 strands to work with, which will provide good coverage on the heart.You can also use a shorter piece of embroidery floss. You’ll just need to start a new thread more often.
- Insert the needle from the back of the fabric through to the front, right next to the dried glue.
- Pull the thread all the way through until the knot stops it at the back. Bring your needle overtop of the glue and down through the fabric, from front to back.
- Repeat this process, working your way around the heart, ensuring the glue is nicely covered.
- Change floss when needed, tucking the ends under the new stitches or tying the thread ends together to secure them.
- Repeat until the whole heart is covered. Secure the last end of the floss under the last stitches.
- Your hot glue heart embroidery is complete!
Helpful Tips:
- If you want to display your embroidery heart in the embroidery hoop, you can hide the ends by folding the excess fabric behind the hoop and sewing it together (like we did with our punch needle coasters). Then, cut a piece of fabric or felt the same size as the hoop and use a blanket stitch to attach it to the back of the embroidered fabric.
- If you don’t sew, you can secure a backing to your piece with fabric glue instead. However glue used in this way may cause bleed-through or yellowing of your piece over time.
- You can display this hot glue embroidery as a wall hanging, or embroider on any number of fabric items: ball caps, tote bags, throw pillow cases, and even canvases.
What type of fabric should I use for my embroidery hearts?
Many different fabrics will work for hot glue embroidery. Ultimately, it comes down to your own preference. We suggest sturdy fabrics without much stretch, like monk’s cloth, aida, or linen if you’re new to embroidery.
Upcycling old pillowcases is another good place to start! Once you’ve tried a few embroidery projects, test different fabrics to find the ones you like working with the best.
Remember you’re adding hot glue, so the fabric needs to withstand heat. You can also use the low temperature setting on your glue gun if need be.
Do I have to use embroidery floss to make my hot glue embroidery?
No, you don’t have to use embroidery floss for this easy heart embroidery. This 3D embroidery hack makes embroidering super easy, so it’s a great project to experiment with different fabrics and threads.
Embroidery floss is still our first choice for this craft (it’s easy to work with and is fairly inexpensive), but you can also try embroidering with whatever type of thread you have available. You can even use yarn, macrame cord, ribbon, or whatever will fit through the eye of your needle.
Where can I find templates to make a hot glue embroidery heart?
There are 8 different heart outline types for you to choose from, with 34 different printable pages available. We used a 2-3/4 inch version of heart outline #1, found in the “Many Sizes” link.
What other designs can I make with this 3D embroidery hack?
This glue gun embroidery will work for any simple design! Try this easy embroidery trick to embroider rainbows, stars, or outlines from coloring pages!
We have lots of shape outlines for you to choose from, whether you’re looking to make a fun holiday design or a cute cat shape.
You don’t need to stick to shapes, though. You can also print out a word or saying and embroider over the letters!
This hot glue heart embroidery craft is truly sew special! Each piece will have its own unique charm, making it a heartfelt gift item or a delightful addition to your Valentine’s Day decor. You’ll definitely fall head over heels for these charming embroidered hearts!
Here’s even more heart craft ideas:
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy, and importantly low mess, so the clean up is simple!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Amazon Canada
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