My sweet ladye has been getting into all sorts of needle-crafts as of late. So, when she pointed me to this sweet Heart in Hand Needle Book by Canadian designer Colleen MacKinnon of @pennyrugsandmore, I knew what I had to do. I purchased the pattern and got to work. I loved MacKinnon’s original colour scheme. And, lucky for me, I was able to source a lovely blue, ivory, and deep red from the ever amazing Nathalie Foy. [Find @woolgatheringnat and her upcycled felted cashmere goods on Insta.]

I used the designer’s pattern. Though, I had to amend it, adding about a 1/4 inch “gutter” or “spine” to the fold between the hands, because my felted cashmere pieces were so luxuriously thick. [I had the bright idea to cut out my pattern pieces along the edge of a classic office file folder, making for a strong, reusable pattern, and an easy-fold.] I also cut a second, slightly larger heart of my own construction, as I wanted two felt hearts to hold plenty of needles and pins. This second heart, I cut in half, and actually sewed in and around the central heart, so that I didn’t have quite as much bulk in the fold area. And, as I like a pocket for small scissors in my needle books, I took a small scrap of ivory ribbing on the piece of wool Nathalie provided for me and added a pocket to the inside of the back hand.

I ended up disposing of the maker’s instructions, as I was working with more stubborn materials. I used a stiff interfacing on the backside of the ivory lining fabric. I machine-sewed the pocket and hearts onto the ivory lining piece before attaching the ivory lining to the blue glove piece. And, while I am not a huge fan of fusibles, especially when using such lovely wool, I ended up completely bonding the interfaced lining piece and the exterior blue piece with double-sided Heat & Bond. Of course, I used a thick cloth between my iron and my materials.

I really enjoyed the embroidering bit, and the creation of a chain of embroidery floss to use as a button closure. I used a Wonderfil Perle Cotton from FabricSpark for all of my stitching. I was still able to hide my embroidery stitches for the detailed stitching on the front of the “glove” between the two layers of the interfaced and bonded wool. The button came from one of the small jars of buttons I keep in my sewing space.

She’s gorgeous! Thanks to Colleen MacKinnon of Penny Rugs & More for such a lovely, inspiring design!