Are you looking for a Valentine card to make yourself or with kids? This is a great project for using scraps and for young sewists to gain confidence in their skill while making something for others.

If this is one of your first projects, you can check out some of the foundational tools available in our Sewing Circle! For this tutorial, you will be especially helped by the Straight Line Sewing Guides for young sewists.

Let’s jump in and see how easy it is to make our own Sewper Valentine. Like what I did there?

Supplies

• Fabric Scraps
• Thread (white or a fun color)
• Cardstock Paper
• Printable Valentine (file shared below, print 8 out at a time on the cardstock)
• Modpodge & Foambrushes

Tools

• Sewing Machine
• Marking Tool, we used a disappearing ink for sewing
• Fabric Scissors
• Needle (note: when sewing through paper, it does dull your needle so it may be a good idea to have one needle you use with paper and put it into your machine when doing something crafty like this)
• Some way to cut your paper Valentine’s to size, I have a paper cutter

“I’m Sew Glad We’re Friends”

Directions

Gather all of your supplies and get ready to make a card!

Prepare the Paper Elements of Your Card

1. Download the above printable and print as many as you need. The printable is designed to print eight at a time.
2. Use your paper cutter to cut your Valentine’s to size. This is a good step to do yourself if you are sewing with a child. You can wing the spacing and do it by eye, or you can measure and mark out the even spacing between each Valentine. There is space above the message to write the recipient’s name and below to sign.

Cut out little hearts or make your own design

I was helping my 4 1/2 and 6 1/2 year old daughters make these. In order to let them feel proud of their Valentines, I let them cut out little hearts from our fabric scraps. They are not perfect, but they are totally made by my girls, who were so proud to give them to their friends. You can choose something different to sew into the middle of your card if you would like. I’ll show the steps that we took to make them.

3. Choose scraps for your hearts. Draw a heart and cut it out. You’ll see the range of sizes that my girls did. It’s very sweet. You can be a little more precise and help them. I, of course, helped but you can tell that was more about safety than precision for us ;). Pictured below are our final products drying so that you can see the hearts. Proceed to Step 4.

Sew!

4. Position one heart in the middle of your card and sew straight down until the end of the heart. We did not backstitch because we used Modpodge to protect our stitches and fabric.
5. Trim any extra thread from the front and the back.

Finish Your Card

6. Cover your workspace for this next part, I have a very old cutting mat that we use for our arty endeavors.
7. Modpodge needs to be used in a well-ventilated area and if your child is sensitive or you don’t want them to be too close to it, you can finish this last part. Use a foam brush to paint a thin layer of the Modpodge to the top of your heart. It will cause the heart to lay nicely and protect it from fraying.
8. Dry cards.
9. Address and sign them!!!

Finished Product

We made many cards for friends this Valentine’s Day. My daughters and son loved using the sewing machine and growing in their confidence and skill. I enjoyed seeing them love it so much! You can find more Valentine’s inspiration for older sewists in our Scrappy Heart Card tutorial.

For more tutorials, check out our Sewing Circle for inspiration. They are great for all ages and for building your sewing skills.

Until next time, keep sewing <3 Kate

Sewing Guide Downloads

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links from which I may receive a small payment at no extra cost to you. I really encourage you to visit your local quilt shop when looking for quilting supplies because it so encouraging to build relationships locally and to support those shops. My favorite local quilt shop is Warman Cozy in Barrington, Illinois. I can’t wait to hear about your local quilt shop!

Safety to always the key to a good sewing experience! So as you sew with little children, make sure you can help them keep their hands and feet in the right places.