Today, I have such a wonderful friend on my blog… Mae from The Life of Compulsive Crafter is one of the sweetest people ever. I adore her style and her lovely projects. Thanks Mae!
*****************************************************************
Hello! My name is Mae and I am the mommy behind the blog The Life Of A Compulsive Crafter.
Before we get started, I feel like I need to confess something….
I don’t decorate.
(hangs head in shame)
My house has been decorated by my husband (gasp!) and whatever small things I have brought to the table tend to be black frames or simple vintage thrifted items.
Until the ray of sunshine that is my five year old daughter entered my life, I found no use in it. Boxes of things kept for a year, leaving you obligated to pull them out and use them for a month before putting them back. It’s simply not something that I enjoy. But Lily, that girl will decorate for holidays she’s created all on her own, like “friends day” or something else sunshiney that she’s thought up.
Her enthusiasm cannot be smothered with my… well, lack of enthusiasm. And so, for her sake, I have become a better decorator and began creating small and simple handmade items to place in our house for occasions.
For Thanksgiving I wanted to create something that wasn’t so specific to the holiday that it couldn’t be kept up until winter. I settled finally on creating garlands to drape here and there made from fall items, and so I picked the beautiful colored leaves that have been painting our neighborhood for weeks now.
Granted, I did not want real dead leaves mucking up my floors and I’m a seamstress of course, so I decided to sew some fabric leaves.
This was such a simple project. It required no drawing skills and I meandered my way through it within a few days.First, I googled images of “leaf shapes” and found quite a few results. I chose this one, though you may enjoying looking through them to find one that suits your style.
Then, I dove into a stash of quilting cottons gifted to me by my lovely MIL. I specifically was looking for reds, yellows, and browns. I could have also added oranges as well but I decided these would do just fine.
I then cut out my leaf shapes and proceeded to trace them onto the fabric leaving a bit of room in between to cut them out. Before cutting, I replaced the foot on my machine with a free motion foot. This allowed me to trace the leaves without having to stop & pivot a lot. It was my first time using the foot and boy was it fun! It felt like I was giving my fabric a tattoo& was very slow and relaxing.
After sewing them all up, I sat down and cut them out. Again, really easy and relaxing. Lastly, I put my normal foot back on and fed each leaf through my machine making sure to leave a long tail at the beginning and end, and leaving a bit of space in between each leaf. You can leave the space by lifting your presser foot after finishing a leaf, then tugging on it slightly to give slack before placing the next leaf under the needle to start sewing again. I found that easier than continuing to sew without fabric under my foot. It also tends to help from my machine from eating the tips of my leaves when I place a new one under the foot.
The results were an easy decoration that makes my little girl smile.
Thank you so much to Hayley for asking me to be a part of her series.
I can’t wait to see the rest of the line-up!
Hayley
Hayley Crouse is a wife, mother and multifaceted designer. Her love of sewing, crafting, cooking and interior design infuses her daily life and naturally spills over into her online presence. She pushes the envelope of her creativity and hopes that others will be inspired to do the same. She currently authors the Welcome to the Mouse House Blog, is the pattern designer behind Mouse House Creations and is a collaborative designer with Willow & Co. Patterns.
Latest posts by Hayley (see all)
- Music Room: Home Tour - January 11, 2019
- The Ace Cardigan - July 30, 2018
- Susie Halter Top and Shorts: Project Run and Play - July 18, 2018
I love this so much Amanda!