How To... Handmade Patchwork Mother's Day Card

It's Mother's Day this Sunday 6th March! I always like to make my Mum a handmade card- I love making cards and I think it's so lovely to receive them- I always keep them when I receive one. This Patchwork handmade Mother's Day card idea is a great way to use pretty fabrics from your stash (if you're a regular reader you will know that I love a stash busting How To!) and could even be mounted in a frame after Mother's Day. Here's how to make it!

1) You will need

Blank greetings card, pretty fabric scraps, small piece of paper for making heart template, ruler and pencil, pins, fabric scissors, embroidery thread, small piece of cotton fabric for use as backing, small piece of Bondaweb, double sided tape

2) Cut the piece of cotton fabric to the size you would like for the background

3) Cut strips of fabric the length of the background fabric and to a width of your choosing. I was aiming for a random patchwork effect so the pieces are of different widths and are not cut perfectly straight

4) Heat your iron and cut the piece of Bondaweb to the same size as the backing fabric. The Bondaweb will have a paper on one side and a side that feels rough- this is the glue. Apply the rough side of the Bondaweb face down onto the backing fabric, so the paper side is facing you. Cover with a piece of baking parchment or a thin piece of fabric to protect your iron and iron for 10-20 seconds. If you iron it for too long it will be impossible to peel the paper off (I've learnt the hard way!). Peel off the paper- do this while the Bondaweb is still hot, or the paper may be difficult to remove

5) Decide how you would like you fabric strips to be arranged and place them onto the prepared backing fabric, overlapping them slightly. Cover with a piece of baking parchment or thin fabric and iron for 10-15 seconds to fix the fabric to the background- the fabric strips should now be attached to the backing fabric. Trim the edges of the fabric if necessary

6) Draw a heart shape onto thin paper or card and use this template to cut the fabric heart

7) Pin and then stitch the heart patch to the middle of the background patch. I've simply over sewn the heart but check out more stitch inspiration here. Next, stitch around the edge of the patch to seal the edges- again, I've over sewn the edges but you could use blanket stitch or add a decorative embroidered border

8) Write "mum" in the middle of the heart lightly in pencil, or use a heat dispersing pen and embroider over the top using running stitch

9) Attach the patchwork to the blank card using double sided tape. After Mother's Day the patch could be mounted onto strong card and displayed in a box frame- it's both a card and a gift!

Happy making!