Heartfelt Tote

With this easy-to-sew tote your child can carry her heart -- and all of her valentines -- everywhere she goes.

Materials

Instructions

Cut two identical hearts from stiff felt (ours are 7 1/4 inches across and about 6 1/2 inches high). Use a hole punch to make a hole at the point of each heart. Starting there, measure, mark, and punch holes 1 inch apart, stopping near the top of the hearts, as shown.
Cut two strips of felt 1 1/2 inches wide and 15 inches long. Mark and punch holes at 1-inch intervals along both edges of the strips to match the holes in the hearts (our hearts have 7 holes along each edge).
Make a "needle" from a twist-tie by folding it in half around a length of narrow ribbon and twisting the ends together. Starting at the point of one heart, use a whipstitch to sew a strip to it. At the top, sew back down the same side so the ribbon crosses itself, as shown. At the bottom point, sew the second strip to the other edge using the same method. To add a new length of ribbon, tie it to the first on the inside of the tote. Attach the second heart to the strips in the same way.
To form a handle, overlap the strips and glue them in place. Glue a felt heart onto the tote for decoration.