Burlap Leaves Garland for Fall

The changing colors of the leaves in autumn makes for one of the most beautiful displays of the year. Nature’s artistry was the inspiration for this DIY burlap leaves garland, and today I’ll teach you how to make your own!

We have several Big Leaf Maple trees around the farm, and they might be my favorite trees of all time. Sure, they make a mess when their leaves drop in the fall, but it’s a minor inconvenience for the beauty they offer. There are two trees right outside the bunkhouse–one in the front, and one in the back–and I even incorporated it into our French Creek Farmhouse logo.

I love the sound of the leaves rustling in the summertime breeze, as well as the bright and colorful showiness in the fall. Even the way the branches look filled with snow in the winter is a dreamy scene!

With so much to appreciate, why not bring the celebration right into your decor with this simple burlap leaves garland?

Using Burlap Leaves as Fall Decor

Of course you know by now that I like subtle and understated seasonal decor, so I chose to make my garland of leaves from burlap. The burlap gives this banner a rustic, farmhouse feeling that’s just perfect for fall. This way, the garland doesn’t overwhelm the space where it’s hanging, but it’s still a clear celebration of the season.

{ Related: Farmhouse Fabric Pumpkin Garland }

The nice thing about something like leaves is that they’re the perfect decor from late summer all the way through Thanksgiving. That gives you tons of options for where to display your burlap leaves garland!

If you’re like me, you need lots of time to plan for your Christmas decor, so if your fall decor can last for several months, that’s a real bonus. More time to focus on the big event out on the horizon!

This burlap leaves garland is simple to make in under an hour. There’s no sewing involved, and it’s a fun autumn project that you can do with the kiddos, too!

Be sure to pin this project for later too!

Why burlap?

Now, the challenging thing about working with burlap is that it sheds and frays quite a bit. This means your crafts might start to unravel before your eyes. Also, because the weave of the fabric is so “open” it can be slightly see-through.

I solve all of these problems by using thick brown felt for the base of each leaf.

Technically, that means this garland is two-sided. You could flip it around and display the felt side, too! Plus, you can get creative and use different colors of felt for each leaf. For example, imagine alternating brown, yellow, and orange.

Truly, you could use any fabric as the foundation for this leaves garland. If you have some extra grain sack material, that looks cute too! Get creative with it!

{ Related: Patriotic Farmhouse Fabric Stars Garland }

How to Make a Burlap Leaves Garland

• Burlap fabric
• Brown “stiff” felt sheets (or try these for a fall color rainbow!)
• Jute twine
• Straight pins
• Scissors
• Fabric marking pen, if using light colored felt (this is my favorite!)
• Chalk pen for marking dark fabrics (this one is a dream!)
• Hot glue gun
• Leaf Template (free printable pattern you can download here)
• Laminator (optional, but I highly encourage it)

1. Gather all of your supplies, including the printable leaf pattern. I sound like a broken record because I say this whenever I share a new printable pattern with y’all, but laminating your patterns before cutting them out makes such a huge difference!

This is, of course, an optional step. But I can’t begin to tell you how much it helps. Plus, the pattern lasts for such a long time. I organize all of mine in folders by season so that I can use them over and over again.

This is the exact laminator we own. It’s super affordable, and we use it for loads of stuff around the house. We’ve had ours for over seven years (at the time of this writing), and have never had a single problem with it–and it gets a lot of use!

2. Trace the pattern onto the felt sheets using the chalk marking pen. The printable pattern includes several sizes of leaves, so use the one that best suits the look you want. I used the 4¼” template for my garland.

For my garland, I used five leaves, but make your garland as long as you like!

3. Next, cut out your leaf shapes.

Notice that I didn’t get too precise with my tracings. For starters, that’s tough to do on a thick material like felt. But also, the burlap is going to give the edges a little more character, so just the general shape was enough for this project.

4. After all of your leaves are cut out of the felt, cut a piece of jute string the length you desire for your garland. Make sure to leave at least 12″ on each end so you can tie the garland to hang.

Then, hot glue the felt leaves to the burlap, carefully inserting the jute string in between the two layers.

5. Finally, carefully cut the burlap by following the edges of the felt. If you plan to display the felt side, you’ll want to use a lint roller to clean up the bits of burlap. Then, once you’ve freed all of your leaves from the burlap fabric, hang your garland anywhere you’d like to spread some autumn joy!