I recently completed a handmade set titled "Lovebirds" -- a dress and bag made from vintage heart-shaped fabric prints!

The "lovebirds" fabric was the main feature and inspiration for the rest of this design. I found three pieces at my favorite recycled fabric store and knew that they were destined for something special!

 

 Materials for the lovebirds dress

 

I imagine that these heart shapes were intended to be a DIY pillow kit, or something similar. I dug them out of a scrap bin and immediately saw more potential.

The main piece had two birds surrounded by flowers, which covered the entire area of the heart. This was the obvious choice for the center front of the dress.

The other two heart pieces were more plain, having only one small bird in the center. I thought that together, they could make two sides of a heart-shaped bag that would be a perfect compliment to the dress. I wanted more detail on the bag, so I decided to heavily embellish them with a combination of hand-embroidery and ribbon flowers.

Here is a compilation of my embroidery process!

 

@atelierheidi

"Lovebirds" embroidery 🐦🌼

♬ my love mine all mine by mitski - mars

 

After the text was done, I wanted to add cute flowers scattered across the rest of the empty space. I found some tiny flowers at the craft store (some of which I dyed blue on my own), but I wanted something larger as well. I ended up making my own flowers with some sheer organza ribbon!

 

@atelierheidi tiny tutorial from my recent embroidery project! #sewing #cottagecore #crafting ♬ Soft Acoustic - Alexander Sokolov

 

The embellishments took a lot of time and thought, but in the end they were very worthwhile! The final look is cute and quaint, playing into the vintage style of the bird prints.

 

Completed heart designs

 

For the main dress, I chose a pink gingham that perfectly matched the colors in the heart print. I also had this cute white trim with heart cut-outs, which was perfect for a Valentine's-themed dress.

Here's a quick video on how the dress came together! 

@atelierheidi How I made the Lovebirds dress! part 2 coming soon! #sewing #lovecore ♬ Jazz Cafe, Organic, Guitar, Pun(1379217) - SUNNY HOOD STUDIO

 

Front side view of dressDress Back View

 

With the dress finished, I was ready to assemble the bag. Here's a video of my process!

@atelierheidi Making a Lovebirds bag to match the dress! 🎀💕 #lovecore #sewing ♬ Bossa nova style with classical guitar and piano(815948) - RE:MUSICA

 

Back side of the bagInside view of the bag

 

 

Completed Lovebirds set

 

 The set has sold, but I'd love to keep making cute special items like this whenever I have the time! Handmade, one-of-a-kind projects take a lot more of my time than the designs I create through a factory, but they are so much more fun and satisfying as well. 

I have a new design planned around Easter, so keep an eye out for that in the coming weeks! 

Follow me on TikTok or YouTube to keep up with making-of videos and other fun clips!

Your forest girl,

Heidi