Embroidered Leaf Minis

I’m so excited about these little autumn leaves! Yes, that’s right — you heard me say I’m excited about something Fall! This leaf embroidery project has made me even happier. So far, my plan to “Embrace Fall” this year is quite successful. 

These leaves are guaranteed not to fade to a uniform brown as real leaves always seem to do. Nor will they dry up and crumble. These tiny stitched leaves can hang on my wall or rest on mini-easels all year long if I choose … now, if I could only decide where to put them! 

I had these embroidered mini-canvases all planned before Sam shared the felt leaves in Pin-spiration post on Tuesday. At first I was worried we might end up with matching projects if she got busy on a version of that pinned project, but the more I thought about it, the more I’d kind of like to see how hers would turn out. I don’t have ANY idea if she’s planning it or not — we can all be surprised as the month goes by :) 

My miniature canvas leaf embroidery project went like this: Flash of inspiration! Search for clip-art leaves. Printer troubles. Search for burlap-covered mini-canvases that I know I have somewhere. Making alternate choice of fabric and white canvases. Choosing autumn-ish variegated threads — needed three, had three! Transfering and stitching leaf designs. Covering white canvases with the embroidered fabric.

You should intersperse a few moments of admiring my own handiwork into that list of steps above … because why not admit that? I almost always love what I create, and taking time to enjoy its various stages keeps me going to the end! I need all the help I can get finishing a project — doing the last 20% can be a challenge for me! 

I used only the most basic of embroidery stitches: outline stitch for the ash leaf, a packed line of French knots for the oak leaf, and backstitch for the maple leaf. The veins and stems are long straight stitches or running stitch. Super simple, and except for those hundreds of French Knots, super quick! 

The threads I used were three different weights of DMC Perle Cotton. The maple leaf is a bulky size 3, the ash leaf is a standard size 5, and the oak’s knots were done with thinner size 8.

Having all of these threads on-hand was really bad feedback to my over-buying, stashing, just-in-case shopping ways! I’ve realized that having a big assortment of supplies in the house doesn’t always mean I have exactly what will work, so I’m trying to shop with more intent these days. But, HA! I had just what I needed for this creative endeavor! Positive feedback to keep buying #allthesupplies. So confusing! 

Figuring out how to make nice tidy corners while wrapping this heavy fabric around the tiny 3″ x 3″ canvas frames was the hardest part of making my Embroidered Leaf Minis. With the help of a spray adhesive for positioning, and some tacky glue for permanently adhering the fabric to the corners and backs of the canvas’s frame, I came up with a method that looks even better than I had hoped! 

Hope you enjoyed the first of our month of Fall Challenge projects! I certainly enjoyed making these Embroidered Leaf Minis! 

Happy Stitching!

Gail