In the spring of 2023, no one at my makerspace job knew how to work our embroidery machines. I wanted to use them so I spent about a month trying to learn how. Once I finally did learn, I felt like I should make a display item to show guests what they can do with that machine. I thought that some sort of stuffed animal would be fun because I think that is something that guests might be interested in trying to make. Since the makerspace is located in the health science building, I thought it would be a good idea to make something medical-related. I thought about different organs like the stomach or brain, but ultimately decided I should make an anatomical heart plushie. I drew a very crude sewing pattern out of some paper, and I used that to make the different components, like the valves on the sides. I also designed an embroidery file of the face-- referencing a very simple design I found online. I also added some veins to the embroidery file to make it more dynamic. Using these two elements I made, I was able to sew the heart plushie you see on the left. I call him Mart.