Embroidered Felt Pumpkin Leaves

Halloween may be over, but pumpkin season is still in full swing. Pumpkins make perfect Thanksgiving decor, but I wanted a way to dress mine up to make it centerpiece-worthy. Since the pumpkins I found at the store were stripped of their vines and leaves when they were harvested, I decided to make some leaves to give my pumpkin a fresh-from-the-field look. The front of the leaves are embroidered with veins stitched with DMC floss; the backs hide the ugly side of the embroidery and make the leaves extra sturdy. I used a length of chain-stitched green yarn to make the vine that connects the leaves, but you could also use ribbon or twine.

To make a pair of pumpkin leaves, you'll need felt (I used WoolFelt from National Nonwovens in Blue Spruce and Sandstone), gold embroidery floss, green yarn, a sewing needle, a crochet hook, and scissors of course. Print the pattern below to the size you like. The leaves shown in the photos are 4 1/2 inches high and 5 inches wide. Cut two from green felt for the leaf fronts, and two from beige for the leaf backs. 

Use the vein lines on the pattern as a guide for your embroidery. Here's the method I use: trace the lines onto tissue paper, pin the tissue paper pattern onto your leaf, and then embroider on the lines, sewing through the tissue paper and the felt. When your embroidery is finished, pull the paper away gently to reveal the stitches. You may need to use tweezers to remove any stray pieces of paper. I embroidered my leaves in two different ways. On one, I embroidered a single line of split stitch, which creates a delicate look. On the other, I began with a single line of split stitch, and then added lines of chain stitch around it for a more textured look. If you want to keep things simple, you could use backstitch or running stitch.

To assemble the leaves, pin the leaf fronts to the leaf backs. Tuck each end of your "vine" between the felt layers at the base of each leaf and pin them in place. Next, sew the pairs of leaves together with running stitch, sewing about 1/8 inch from the edge. Be sure to stitch the vine ends in place securely.

When it's time to dress your pumpkin up for Thanksgiving, wrap the vine around the stem like a scarf and let the leaves hang naturally to the sides.

Halloween Pompom Garland

If you haven't decked your halls for Halloween yet, you're running out of time! Don't worry--I have a last-minute project for you that's super cute and super simple. All you need is a small amount of orange, gold, black, and white yarn. If you have purple, green, or gray yarn on hand, you can throw them into the mix too. You'll also need a pompom maker--one of my all-time favorite craft gadgets. (Mine is from Clover.)

Just use the pompom manufacturer's directions to whip up as many pompoms as you like. Beware--as I've said before, pompom making is addictive. When you finish your pompoms, give them a trim to even the edges, and then fluff them up. (Don't trim the two ends of the tying strand; you'll use those to assemble your garland.)

For the base of my garland I just crocheted a length of white chain stitch, and then tied my pompoms along it, evenly spaced. If you'd like to make this project even easier, tie your pompoms to a length of Halloween ribbon or colored craft twine. When your garland is finished, hang it around a window, wrap it around a chandelier, or wind it around a centerpiece for an extra splash of Halloween color.

If you still have a few minutes to spare, here are two more quick crafts from Halloweens past:

Candy Corn Hair Clips

Scrap Basket Halloween Pumpkins

See My Felt Arctic Animals in "Quilts and More" Magazine

Used with permission from Quilts and More™ magazine. ©2018 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

When I first saw these shades of blue, white, and gray WoolFelt from National Nonwovens, they  made me think about ice and snow and Arctic animals. After a bit of sketching and stitching, I came up with this blue whale, orca, seal, and narwhal. I'm happy to report that they found a home on the pages of the Winter 2018 issue of Quilts and More magazine. (How awesome is the background that the Q&M people came up with?!) The issue will be on newsstands on October 24. Click here for a sneak peek inside--it's filled with gorgeous quilts and smaller sewing projects. 

Used with permission from Quilts and More™ magazine. ©2018 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

Trick-or-Treat Mouse

This little felt mouse is all dressed up for Halloween! She was featured in the Fall 2016 issue of Craft Ideas magazine, which, I am sad to say, has since ceased publication. The patterns are still available on the magazine's website, though, so I decided to share the how-to on this week's blog post.

  

MATERIALS

WoolFelt from National Nonwovens in Smokey Marble, Shocking Pink, Lavender, Chartreuse, Black, White, Yellow, Mac 'n Cheese.

DMC 6-strand embroidery floss: 208 Very Dark Lavender, 310 Black, 415 Pearl Gray, 444 Dark Lemon, 741 Medium Tangerine, 899 Medium Rose, 907 Light Parrot Green, B5200 Snow White.

1/8"-wide bright green ribbon, polyester fiberfill, 2 black seed beads, 1/2"-diameter pink pompom, gray and purple satin cord (optional)

  

DIRECTIONS

Although Craft Ideas is no longer in publication, their website is still available. You can click here to download and print the patterns and diagrams for the mouse.

Cut the following shapes from felt: from Smokey Marble: two bodies, one head, four ears, one base, two large paws, two small paw; from Shocking Pink: two ear insets; from Chartreuse: one mask; from black: one bag; from Snow White: one candy; from Yellow: one bottom candy stripe; from Mac 'n Cheese: one center candy stripe; from Lavender: one cape. Use pinking shears to trim the long edge of the cape.

Make the Tail (Optional)

With a size 1 crochet hook and six strands of gray floss, make a chain 5 inches long. Turn, slip stitch in second chain from hook and all remaining stitches. Fasten off. Make cape ties: With crochet hook and lavender, make a chain 2 1/2 inches long. Fasten off. Repeat to make second cape tie. (Alternately, use gray and purple satin cord for tail and cape ties.)

Assemble the Mouse

Note: I used two strands of embroidery floss for all stitching.

With whipstitch and rose floss, sew an ear inset to each of the two ear pieces. Whipstitch the appliqued ears to two remaining ear pieces.

Referring to the diagram, use gray floss to tack ears, two small paws, and tail in place on one body piece (this will be the mouse's back).

Sew the mask to the head around the eye holes with green floss and whipstitch. Use running stitch to sew the mask to the head, sewing only as indicated on the diagram. Sew the seed bead eyes in place with black floss. Sew the bottom of the head to the front body piece with gray floss and running stitch. Sew the large paws to the wrong side of the body front with gray floss and running stitch.

Sew the pompom nose in place with the rose floss. Pin the body front to the body back. Cut two 7-inch pieces of bright green ribbon, tuck one end of each under the sides of the mask and pin in place. With gray floss and running stitch, sew body front and body back together, leaving bottom open as shown on diagram. When sewing sides of head, stitch only through body and head pieces and ribbon; do not sew through mask. With green floss, sew running stitch around outer edges of mask.

Stuff the mouse with fiberfill. Sew the base to the body front and back with gray floss and running stitch.

Sew a cape tie to each top corner of the cape with lavender floss. Sew the cape to the body back at the shoulders with lavender floss.

With white floss and whipstitch, sew the candy piece to the top half of the bag piece. Whipstitch the bottom candy stripe in place with yellow floss; sew the center candy the candy stripe in place with tangerine floss. Cut two 2-inch pieces of green ribbon for handles and tack them in place to the bag edge. Fold the bag in half, wrong sides facing, and sew the long edges together with black floss and running stitch.

To finish your Trick-or-Treat Mouse, hang the bag from the mouse's arm and tie mask ties in a bow at back of head.