How To Make An Upcycled Scandi Woven Hearts Garland
Make a cosy Scandinavian woven-hearts garland using old denim and felted wool scraps. This upcycled DIY is ideal for Valentine’s decor, rustic home styling, or year-round charm. Free template included, simple steps.
If you have ever been into a Scandinavian home, you will probably have noticed woven heart decorations. (Sometimes called pleated hearts). These lovely Scandi hearts aren't just for Valentine's but for Christmas and all year round.
Since spotting the gorgeous woven hearts whilst visiting relatives in Norway, I've wanted to make my own.
My mantle has looked bare since the Christmas decorations were taken down. I thought I'd cheer it up by making my woven hearts garland to hang on it.
Often Scandi hearts are made from paper or felt in two contrasting
These woven hearts garlands cost almost nothing to make. You need a few scraps of denim and old felted sweaters to make the Scandi hearts. I've also made some Scandi embroidered hearts, which you might want to check out.
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What You Need To Make A Scandi Woven Hearts Garland
- Paper template - Available to download here
- Denim scraps from old jeans
- One long seam from the inside legs of a pair of jeans
- Felted wool scraps from old sweaters or craft felt
- Pen, iron, scissors
and glue (or needle and thread).
How To Make A Woven Hearts Garland
Step 1: Cut out the paper template and fold it in half lengthways. Cut the slits where marked.
Step 2: First, fold the scrap piece of denim you will use in half and iron in a sharp crease. Place the folded paper template on top of the denim.
Lining up the fold in the paper with the fold in the denim. Draw around the template with a pen.
Step 3: Next, cut out this shape and cut in the slits.
If you don't want the denim cut edges to fray, spread a little fabric glue around the edges, as this will stop it from happening.
Step 4: Repeat the last two steps with the felted fabric.
The Felt does not fray, so no need to glue the edges.
Step 5: For the next step, you need to weave the two heart halves together (like in the picture below). This is a little fiddly, but fortunately, the fabric is flexible and won't tear.
Step 6: Finally, to finish off the heart, I stitched the open round top sides together. Carry on making woven hearts until you have enough for a garland.
You can always use fabric glue if you don't want to sew.
Step 7: Finally, lay out the Scandi hearts in the order you want the colours to appear. Then glue or stitch them to a long denim seam. You can always use twine for this part if you don't have one.
All that is left to do is to decide where to hang your Scandinavian heart garland.
I like to hang mine on the door to my bedroom. I might just put it on the mantle for Valentine's week. It's my birthday on Valentine's day, so I like to put some decorations up!
This Valentine's sewing project is featured in the A to Z of denim crafts and in this collection of adult Valentine crafts.
There is a tutorial for making the paper version of these woven fabric hearts in this collection of DIY Scandinavian decorations. The paper ones can be opened up to form little hanging baskets for the Christmas tree.
As well as making denim hearts, I also make patchwork denim stars.
If you liked this post, you might want to check out some of my other scrap denim and sweater wool posts.
- Delightful Denim Hearts 2 Ways
- How To Make Tassels From Denim
- Recycled Sweaters Heart Decoration
- Sweater Felt Tassels
The Best Denim Valentine's Upcycles and Crafts
I love this idea. I returned from my stepmother's home with some of my dad's shirts that I wanted to turn into some kind of decor. I was thinking of a pillow, but I like this idea better, as he was half Swedish and the hearts will remind me of him. I was wondering if regular shirt fabric is too thin and if it would need to be stiffened or reinforced somehow. There are a couple of brushed cotton/flannel shirts that are heavier weight and I thought they might be OK. How stiff is the felted wool you used? Do you have suggestions for how to use the shirts? Thanks in advance.
Hi, the felt was a little stiff. However, your old shirts might not be stiff enough. I’d try one first and if it doesn’t work think about using interfacing or a starch spray to stiffen the fabric. Thank you ????
Hello! Visiting you from Threading My Way post. I absolutely love these hearts and cannot wait to try them one day.
Thank you. They are a great way to use up small scraps.
Your heart garland is wonderful - love the combination of denim and felted fabric! Great idea 🙂
Aww, thank you so much Marie. I thought the felt added a bit of colour to the denim.
These are such a fun upcycle idea. While I’ve done other denim crafts, I’d never thought of using the jean seam before—clever!
Thank you Debbie. I love to use the seams of old jeans when I can.
These are adorable and look fairly simple to make too! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Share Some Love party. Pinned.
Thank you, they are easy.
Love these!
Aww, thank you so much.
I love the woven look of these - so creative. We love seeing your projects at Merry Monday each week 🙂
Aww, thank you so much that's lovely to hear.
So cute! Thanks for sharing at the To Grandma's House We Go DIY, Crafts, Recipes and More Link Party. I pinned this on Pinterest! Hope to see you next week.
Thank you so much, I will be there.
I've made felt and paper versions of these hearts but never thought of them for an upcycling project. Love it. Might give it a go with my teens. They'd love it. #GoingGreen
Thank you, Cheryl. They are really simple.
These are really pretty and a lovely idea for upcycled Valetine's decorations. Thanks for linking up to #GoingGreen and please do visit and comment on some of the other blogs that have been linked up.
Thank you, Rosie. I have done ?
Claire, this is such a creative tutorial and I love how the garland turned out. Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm--pinned!
Thank you, Cecillia.
Your heart decoration is adorable! Congratulations, I'll be featuring it tonight at Merry Monday! Hope to see you at the party!
Aww, that's awesome I look forward to seeing it.