stitch love // valentine blog hop & simply stitched gift bag

Today I'm very happy to be sharing the start of the Stitch Love Valentine Blog Hop! What's that, you ask? Well, with Valentine's Day so close, I thought we might celebrate with some Stitch Love critters and some very lovely blogging friends.

All this week you can stitch along with us, picking up a free pattern at each stop along the way. The patterns are the kind of animals that you'll find in the pages of Stitch Love: Sweet Creatures Big & Small, but they're all looking prepared for Valentine's Day, or at least ready to spread love! You'll also see a few fun ways to use these patterns. So let's jump in!

This happy little pouch is so simple to make, but it's such a sweet way to stitch love. After you've finished your embroidery, it only takes a bit of sewing (by hand or machine) and you can fill the bag with some chocolates for your Valentine!

You will need:

Linen or other plain fabric
Print fabric
Embroidery floss
Ribbon or cording
Basic sewing notions

Decide what size you want your bag to be, then add an inch to each dimension. Cut the linen and print fabric to size. There's really no right or wrong here, but I recommend that it be a tall rectangle. Mine is 7.5" x 6", and I wished that I had made it just a little taller, or perhaps thinner.

Transfer the embroidery motif using your favorite method (I like this for on linen) and embroider it however you'd like.

Pin the embroidered piece and the print piece right sides together, then sew the sides and bottom of the bag. You may want to trim the sides and stitched corners with pinking shears to reduce fraying. Even if you aren't pinking, do clip those corners.

Fold and press the top edge down two times, then sew a hem. Turn the bag right side out.

By the way, this is a pretty small project, and all of the sewing can easily be done by hand. The hem at the top would especially be cute if you stitch it with running stitch.

Now, fill your bag with some sweets, and tie it closed with a piece of ribbon or cord.

This is a quick project, even with the embroidery, and I like that. Sometimes quick and easy is good. I mean, you could make a couple of these by the end of the week!

But if you wanted to make this more involved, and add something extra special, how about making the back of your gift bag a little scrappy? Patchwork of any kind, perhaps an English paper-pieced panel, would be fantastic!

Okay, so now how about a free embroidery pattern for you? My froggy friend with the box of chocolates is going to have to wait. I know, here you were all excited about that. But don't worry, you can find him tomorrow at Aimee's blog!

Today, I'd like to offer you a very sweet little duckling. She was inspired by a vintage valentine that I saw online. I might also add that she doesn't just have to be for Hearts Day, but she would also look great on a gift bag stitched for Easter, which will be here before we know it!

Download the Valentine Duckling Pattern
And be sure to visit all the other stops on the Stitch Love Valentine Blog Hop this week!

Monday: Shiny Happy World & Wild Olive (You're here!)
Tuesday: Little Dear Tracks
Wednesday: Lark Crafts
Thursday: Hugs Are Fun
Friday: Feeling Stitchy
Saturday: Pretty By Hand & Wild Olive (Here again!)
Thanks to all my friends for stitching along with me! Oh, and if you'd like to join in the fun, share your stitching and tag your posts with #StitchLoveBlogHop so we can all see! I'll be keeping an eye out on Twitter, Instagram, and Flickr!