I finished up two projects this week, both of them autumn-related. The first one is this leaf garland:
I bought a package of artificial fall leaves from the Dollar Store....oh....about four years ago (yikes!). I used some of the leaves right away, but the majority of the leaves remained in the package, stored away for "someday". After seeing this beautiful leaf garland from Running With Scissors, I decided how to use those artificial leaves! (She used real leaves and has instructions for preserving them on her blog post, if you're interested.) The garland is really easy and fast to make. All you do is sew your leaves together in one long strip, overlapping them slightly as you sew. I didn't try to plan out a pattern with the colors or anything, I just sewed them in the order I picked them up. It took me about fifteen minutes to make; it would have taken much less time, but my bobbin ran out of thread and then my main spool of thread ran out, too! I love how cheery it looks on my fireplace — a big impact for a little effort!
My next project uses the same fabric I used for my fall pillow covers:
These autumn leaf place mats were a cinch to make! I used two pieces of fabric plus some thin batting for each place mat. I traced around an existing place mat for my template, adding 1/2 inch seam allowances on all sides. After I pinned my fabric right sides together and put the batting on top, I stitched around the outside, leaving about 4 inches for turning. I clipped the corners, turned the place mats right-side out, and pressed them. The final step was to add two rows of top-stitching around the perimeter of the place mats (one inside the other, like a frame), and in the process I sewed closed the opening I'd left for turning. Now that fabric is completely used up, and our kitchen table looks much more festive!
What projects have you been getting done recently?
Both are cute ideas! Way to go! xoxox
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