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Feb 10

Weaving to Woo Week – Three Pocket Valentine Letter Holder

As a kid I remember having a hanging fabric letter holder on our door for every season. At Valentine’s Day we would put all of our cards and Valentines in the pockets until they were absolutely bursting with love. This tradition can be used year round for everyday mail, and then when the seasons hit, you have a place to keep your cards. This is a no-sew project that can be warped and woven in just a couple of days.

Three Pocket Valentine Letter Holder

cricket loom weaving red gingham pattern cloth

Materials:

Two colors of worsted weight yarn – I used the new Berroco Modern Cotton in Gooseberry (1641) and Bluffs (1600), 10″ Cricket Loom with 8 dent reed, Size G crochet Hook, Tapestry needle (not pictured)

Weaving:

Warp your loom with a two yard warp with four end stripes in alternating colors along the whole width of the loom.

This project ended up having 80 ends total with 40 ends of each color. Weave approximately two inches and then hemstitch, doing it now is easier than waiting until the fabric is off the loom.

Weave the length of your warp, alternating four picks of each color, leaving about 12″ of waste yarn in the back to braid and then use as the hanger of the letter holder. I didn’t capture the yarn along the sides since I knew I would be crocheting an edging afterwards that would cover the selvage edge.

Before taking the fabric off the loom, insert a small 10.5-11″ dowel and weave a few more picks. Hem stitch around the dowel; this adds support to the project when hanging it up.

insert a small 10.5-11" dowel and weave a few more picks. Hem stitch around the dowel
Hem stitch around the dowel; this adds support to the project when hanging it up

Take the project off of the loom, divide the top of the warp in two and braid each section then tie the top together to act as a hanger.

Divide the bottom into five sections and braid each section. Variations would be to fringe twist the ends or to do knotted fringe.

Initially I tied the top braids together, but found it was too bulky of a knot, so I took a scrap piece of pink yarn and tied them together.

Pleat your fabric to create three pockets of roughly equal size.making sure the openings face “up” or towards the handle.

divide the top of the warp in two and braid each section then tie the top together to act as a hanger

Pin the sides together, or use removable stitch markers to keep the layers flat and together.

Pin the sides together

Crochet a scallop edge along each side of the pockets making sure that you are going through all three layers of fabric at once.

Scallop edging is a combination stitch of five double crochet stitches in one space tacked down on either side by a slip stitch
.
Video instructions for a scallop edge can be found here.

Join the yarn to the end of the fabric with a slip stitch. I thought the pink would make a nice border, but you can use any color you fancy.

Instructions for a Double Crochet (DC)

*About 6 picks along the side, yarn over and insert your hook.

 insert your crochet hook about 6 picks along the side

Yarn over and pull a loop through the hole.

Yarn over and pull a loop through the hole.

Yarn over, pull through two loops on the hook

Yarn over, pull through the last two loops on the hook

Yarn over, pull through the last two loops on the hook.

Insert your hook 6 picks away from the space and slip stitch to finish the Scallop Stitch.
Repeat from * four more times in the same space.

Insert your hook 6 picks away from the space and slip stitch to finish the Scallop Stitch.

Completed three pocket Valentine letter holder

Crochet scallops along the length of each side. I got about 10 scallops for the whole length

After weaving in the ends, wash the letter holder by hand so as to not pull out the dowel.
Lay flat to dry

Hang up your letter holder and watch it fill up with cards from your loved ones!

This pattern is versatile and can be used at any time of the year! Make one for each season or holiday!

1 Comment

  1. Marietta Walker
    April 7, 2014 at 2:22 am ·

    Absolutely adorable. Thanks for sharing.