Love letter for a valentine, tutorial and a giveaway all in one!

Are you guys ready for a little Valentines Day crafty tutorial?  Would you like to make a cute little love letter for your loved one?  Right, let's begin, you will need...,

a square of felt or felted wool (mine is from a felted sweater), 16 x 16 cm

a square of fabric in a print of your choice, 18 x 18 cm

a square of bondaweb, 18 x 18 cm

extra bit of fabric for making a stamp and decorating the love letter

one snap fastener

a button

embroidery thread

pins, sewing needle, scissors

steam iron

sewing machine (optional!)

piece of card, 10 x 7 cm

Print out the above template so that it is 11cm across where marked, cut out and pin to the felt and trim to match.  Sew a running stitch along the marked 'fold' lines.  This will be removed later as it is just a guide for the lettering position.

Place a small stamp shaped piece of fabric in the top right hand corner of the envelope front and stitch.  I've done this using my sewing machine, only because I feel guilty I've not used it much since I bought it, but you can easily do this by hand.  I also added an embroidered postmark for extra cuteness!

(edit - you can do free machine embroidery on pretty much any sewing machine, all you need to do is drop the feed-dog and use a darning foot, it's just like drawing with thread!)

Next, embroider a name and address.  It is obvious who mine is for, I couldn't do anything suspicious, he reads my blog!  Once the address is complete, you can pull out the running stitch marker.

The next stage is to add the bondaweb, place your envelope on top of the sticky side of the bondaweb, turn both over, so the paper side is facing up and press with the steam iron.  Trim away the excess bondaweb and then peel off the backing paper.  Turn the envelope over again, face down, place the fabric right side up on top, and again, press with the steam iron to fix the two together.

Trim away the excess fabric, fold the envelope as indicated on the template, and once again, press with the steam iron.

To assemble the envelope, stitch a running stitch around all of the edges making sure to stitch through both layers where it overlaps, adding the button,

and snap fastener as you go.

Now you are ready to make something to go inside.  All I've done is given the card a torn edge, and stuck on a fabric heart.  I'll write the message later, ...it's private!

And voila, it's done!.  Don't forget to pinch it back after Valentines Day, you can use the envelope again next year!

Now it's time for a little Valentine giveaway, but this one is with a difference.

I would like you to nominate someone, be it family, friend, person in need or just because!

Leave a comment saying who you would like a cotton reel pincushion to go to and why.  I will choose a winner on Valentine's day itself.  They won't get this for the 14th, but if they are reachable by email, I will send a message to tell them of their gift and who has won it for them.

(ps, if you do make one of these love letters, please do join the Lucykate Crafts... pattern pieces group on Flickr and post what you've made so I can see, thank you!)

Edited to add - the giveaway is now closed, thank you.