How To: Make a Sweet Sachet

Greetings Everyone. I am so excited to be writing craft “How-To’s” for The Femme Guide!!

One of the easiest ways to add a lot of inexpensive, fun, personal, sexy, and super femme accessories in your life is with a needle. And by that, I don’t mean home-done tattoos (though those can be super hot too). No, I mean needles, as in needle-and-thread. Needlecrafting is a timeless handicraft, and one that is making a really popular comeback today. So, I’d thought start a series of fun how-to’s centered about needleworking. But, no need to worry; you don’t need to already have any sewing know-how. This little series will work around small, fun, cheap n’ easy projects that will, at the same time, teach you some hand-sewing basics.

Project One: Sachets

I love sachets. They are pretty, cutesy-small, smell nice, and I can hide them in sexy places like my lingerie drawer. They make great tags, a set makes a great gift, and I like that I can tuck them in someone special’s coat as a sweet “you-know-you-miss-me” reminder.

For this project you will need:

craft felt (I use the Eco-Spun brand because it is made with recycled plastics)

embroidery thread

needle (you want one with a fairly wide eye)

needle threader (any kind will do)

marker

scissors

dried herbs/flowers (I use dried lavender from CostPlus -its runs about $1)

pins or safety pins (optional and not pictured)

sheet of paper (not pictured)

Step One

Use the marker and draw a heart on a sheet of paper.

Step Two

Cut out the Heart.

Step Three

Trace two hearts onto your felt

Step Four

Cut out your hearts

Step Five

Put your hearts together with the “markered” sides facing inwards. Hold them in place with a pin or safety pin if you like.

Step Six

Thread your needle. Allow yourself about two feet of thread (you will have to stitch around the entire heart). Put a knot at the end of your thread. Any kind of knot will do for this project. If you want to practice a neat little knot, you can find instructions here.

Step Seven

Run your needle in-between your two hearts at the inner point. Pull your thread til your knot is hidden away inside your two hearts.

Step Eight

Run your needle in from the back of your two hearts to the right of your starting place.

Step Nine

Pull your thread through until you have just a small loop left.

Step Ten

Run your needle through the loop.

Step Eleven

Pull your thread taut.

Step Twelve

Repeat Steps 8-11

CONGRATULATIONS! You have learned the blanket stitch, used and loved by quilters everywhere!!

Step Twelve

Repeat steps 8-11 until you only have about an inch-inch and half of heart left unstitched

Step Thirteen

Leaving your needle still threaded (you can re-thread if it accidentally falls off) and attached to your hearts, carefully stuff the dried herbs/flowers into the small opening you have left. This is a little bit messy.

Step Fourteen

Stitch your heart fully shut

Step Fifteen

Secure the thread with a tiny knot. You can do this by stitching back into your previous stitch and making a knot. Then, cut your thread.

Finished! Now you have made a beautiful wee sachet!

Just think of all the cute places you could stow this bitty lovely! Now that you’ve learned the blanket stitch you can make sorts of differently shaped and sized sachets. . . Or even use the same concepts to make tiny stuffed creatures.

Enjoy Lovelies!

Other posts by MsHinterland

• How To: Wear Red Lipstick - February 7th, 2009
• Down and Dirty, Super Cheap, Easy and Fast to Make, Holiday Office Party Gift - December 17th, 2008
• Gifting Giving and Wonderful Handmade Goodness - December 4th, 2008
• How To: Make A Cupcake Pincushion From A Bottlecap - November 26th, 2008
• How To: Make Your Unearned Femme Privilege Work For You At The Hardware Store - November 24th, 2008

Technorati Tags: Craft, Sachet

Tags: Craft, Sachet