Monday, November 15, 2010

Felt Leaf Garland -- A Picture Tutorial : :

Since the leaves have all fallen of the trees and there is still some Fall Season left to celebrate before we wish for Christmas snow -- we decided to bring some of those autumn colors we love so much indoors, with this simple Felt Leaf Garland.
Besides basic sewing supplies you will need:
  • scraps of felt in autumn colors -- reds, greens, oranges, golden yellow, brown, etc.
  • bias tape -- extra wide, double fold (in a coordinating color)
  • sharp scissors
  • pins
  • leaf shape templates(optional)
First : : Gather your felt -- with the harvest colors in mind, of course. You can make several leaf templates using card stock for uniformity and trace your shapes onto your felt with a fabric marker, but I chose to do ours free form, cutting what I could from my scraps of felt. I had a stack of 21, which worked perfectly with the 3 yard strand of bias tape.
Second : : Arrange your leaves in the order you'll want them to hang in your garland.
Third : : Make sure you have extra wide, double folded bias tape and your pins handy.
Forth : : Now take your bias tape, which is folded in half and slide the stem of your leaf in-between the fold, close, and then pin in place. Leave about 6" on each end to use as a knot or loop for hanging. Repeat with all of your leaves, leaving a 1 - 1.5 inch space between each leaf. I used the entire length of the standard 3 yards package of bias tape to make my garland, it can easily be made longer or shorter by omitting or adding leaves.
Fifth : : Using thread that matches the color of your bias tape (recommended) start sewing along the bias tape, removing pins as you go. Continue sewing until you get about 6" from the end, making sure you've left that length for making your hanging knot or loop. Example of knotting the end : :
Now, that's it! Your Felt Leaf Garland is ready to hang!
A photo of the one I made for Cynthia
Super easy, eco-friendly, and such a great way to use up some scraps! And don't limit yourself to just this leaf garland, if you just change the theme, this idea works with any holiday or celebration garland -- really the options are endless!

I hope you have enjoyed this project. Create on! ~ Maureen

21 comments:

  1. What a cool project, thanks for sharing this!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love love love my garland! Many thanks Moe it makes my house a little bit more happier.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the oak leaves! Cute banner!

    <><

    ReplyDelete
  4. It looks very festive and cheerful! Very nice!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks everyone! I really want to share more tutorials. Since most of the projects I come up with I only usually do once, I would really love to start sharing them more. This was an easy first one for me. Let me know what you think and if it is clear enough. Thanks again!

    xo, maureen

    ReplyDelete
  6. Maureen, Great tutorial! I think you did a great job!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lookin' good! I have a Autumn garland project in the back of my head, I'm sure it will be winter before I get to it. Your leaves look great!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Very clever and fun idea. I may do a Christmas garland with my granddaughter!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Maureen, Such a clever idea and it looks great for the holidays!

    ReplyDelete
  10. That is SO cute! Great tutorial! Now I'm tempted to use up some of this felt I've got laying around... ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great tutorial, I love Fall!

    T♥

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is adorable! Found your blog through Etsy forums! I just saw something similar to your leaf garland where they stitched the leaf veins. Very cute! I have a craft blog that I'd love for you to check out and add your shop link if you'd like!

    http://www.cupcakecuppy.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love this!!! I can totally see little Christmas ornaments from felt : )

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment!

If you are a no reply or an anonymous commenter, I will be sure to respond to your comment right here - so please do check back!