How to Make Fabric Autumn Leaves

Denim backed fabric leaves...

Today, I present to you an open-ended project idea. 

I'll be sharing with you how I made some leaves out of autumn-toned fabric. In my case, they'll end up hanging in my front window after summer is officially over. (On that note, I've seen some of our trees turning colour already.)

Once you've made these, you can put them to use in a variety of ways. From simply scattering them on your table top as decor for fall gatherings to creating a garland or bunting to hang from a mantle, the possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

Here's what you'll need to make these autumn leaves:

• leaf templates
• fall coloured fabrics (mine came from here and here)
• denim scraps (mine were left over from these projects)
• fusible fleece

You may recall that about a month ago, I posted about looking for leaves. If you want some instant ideas for leaf templates, check it out here.

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1. Cut Fabric & Interfacing

With your chosen templates, cut leaves out of fabric and then pin them to fusible fleece interfacing. (What side against what? Go with fusible side up, but it may not be that important no matter what you choose.)

Pin fabric leaves to fusible fleece interfacing...

Cut around the leaves just enough to separate them, so you can work with each of them individually in the next step.

2. Sew Vein Patterns Onto Leaves

Starting at the bottom of a leaf, sew a "main vein" all the way to the tip and then come back. On the way back, divert your stitching to form the secondary veins, doubling back on those to return to the main vein, etc.

Trim fusible fleece to match...

Once you've completed the veins, trim the fusible fleece to match the shape of the leaf. I used a black thread here and liked the result; a lighter thread will make the veins harder to see (if you want that).

3. Secure Onto Denim Backing

Place the leaf down on top of a piece of denim that's large enough to maintain about a 1/4" (6mm) border all the way around. Sew the leaf onto the denim as close to the edge as possible.

Trim away excess denim...

Cut away the denim, leaving about a 1/4" of it around the leaf.

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4. Rough up the Denim

Press the leaf with a hot iron to fuse the fleece to whatever surface you chose. Then, with your fingernails or perhaps with the help of an old toothbrush, scrub the edges of the denim to rough them up and fray them.

Fray the edges of the denim...

Repeat the process with the remaining leaves. (I ended up making nine in total, in three different styles using three different fabrics.)

Front and back views of finished leaves...

Arrange into a pattern of your liking...

I liked the resulting "fringy-ness" of the edges, probably because they remind me that fall leaves are typically rough around the edges. (I had recently been introduced to this scrubbing technique by some YouTubers who used it to create amazing contrasting textures on their denim recycling projects.)

All that's left now is to decide how you want to use your leaves. My plan to display them in the window was not yet fully mapped out as to how I would do so. If you're considering something similar — i.e., a wall or window hanging — the next step is to figure out what your preferred layout might be.

At first, I thought of suspending the leaves one on top of another along a strip of fabric, bias tape, or ribbon. That's when I thought this arrangement (at right) might work. But when I measured, it was longer than I wanted it to be. Moreover, I didn't like the look of the strip of crochet lace underneath as much as I thought I might.

[I also tried using the waistbands of old jeans as the supporting strip but didn't care for that either. In the end, if I truly wanted to go with this effect of "dropping leaves", I would likely have used a strip of vinyl to make the whole thing as invisible as possible.]

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Anyway, in this particular situation, I went with a Plan B. I decided to arrange the leaves in a quasi-connected fashion and then somehow join them on the back.

This was an arrangement that I considered for a long time.

What's wrong with this one?

However, in the end, the overall shape reminded me too much of the kite that hangs in the window during the summer. (It was also reminiscent of a cross, which was totally not the impression that I was going for.)

I'll show you what I ended up doing with my autumn leaves in an upcoming post.

'Til next...