Dimensional Leaf Garland

Well hello there!

I have been in a bit of creative slump recently, and this weekend I broke out of it! There are fabulous garlands of all shapes and sizes out there in blogland. I wanted to make something simple, autumnal, and a bit whimsical for my home.

This is what I created:
This is a simple project, and you can adjust colors, sizes, length and really any other details to make your own version. Here's what you'll need:

• Some sort of stuffing
• Wood beads (or other large, chunky bead)
• Ribbon (Quite a long piece...just be sure to account for all the knots, leaves, and beads)
• Fabric scraps (I did use some regular cotton, but it was the trickiest to work with for this project. I preferred the heavier stuff like wool felt, corduroy, and denim.)

1. With wrong-sides of fabric together, cut out all your leaf shapes. Mine were between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 inches long and about 1 1/2 or 2 inches wide.

See...you should have 2 pieces cut from the same fabric that look like this when you 'open' them up:

I did not follow any sort of pattern. I wanted all my leaves to be somewhat varied. If you're a perfectionist-type-of-person, you could cut yourself a little pattern from some card stock or heavier paper. Here's my little collection all ready to be sewn:

2. Stitch around the individual leaves like this, leaving an opening on one side:

3. Stuff a bit of fluff into the leaf like this:
4. Finish stitching the leaf closed.

This is about how puffy you want the finished leaf:

This is what it looks like all stitched up:

5. Keep sewing all your leaves together until you have a nice little pile like this:

6. Arrange the leaves in the order you'd like them stitched together. Be sure your ribbon and beads are close at hand.

7. Leave about a 6-inch tail at one end of the ribbon, and start stitching the ribbon down the middle of the first leaf, being sure to back-stitch at the beginning and end. This is what the ribbon side will look like:

This is what the opposite side will look like:

8. Tie a knot near the end of the first leaf. Thread a bead onto the ribbon, and tie another knot to secure the bead in place.

9. Line up your second leaf as close to the last knot as possible, and stitch the leaf to the ribbon.

10. Continue stitching leaves, adding knots and beads until all your leaves are in place. Your garland will look something like this:

11. Walk all over your house with your new accessory until you find the perfect place to display your lovely creation. Sigh when you realize it is quite a difficult spot to photograph.

12. I love how it adds just a subtle bit of autumn to my front room. I'm already thinking of what sort of Christmas garland I could replace it with...Christmas is just around the corner, you know!
P.S. Do you like my nails? I LOVE this color for fall/winter...it's my new guilty pleasure...literally, that's what it's called: Guilty Pleasure from Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure line. You can buy it at Target.


Okay, back to the garland...I'm sharing it over at these fine places this week: