Easy Low-Cost Children's Fall Crafts to Sew or Knot

Teach your children how to sew as soon as they show interest and these crafts might be the perfect way to get them started. Have your kids hand sew the button eyes onto the pumpkin placemats or whip-stitch the edges onto the leaf patchwork tablecloth and they'll be able to help you later by replacing their own missing buttons or stitching a ripped hem on a busy school night!

Sewing is a life skill that both boys and girls can benefit from knowing. Get them sewing fun craft projects early, as you'll be teaching them safety and problem-solving skills at the same time. Most supplies can be found at your local fabric or craft store and right in your own cupboards!

Pumpkin Felt Placemats

4 Orange Felt squares, 12" x 12"
4 Brown Felt rectangles, 12" x 18"
8 Black Button Eyes, flat 1½" - 2" round or triangles w/2 or 4 holes
4 skeins Brown Embroidery Thread/Floss
2 Embroidery Needles (blunt tipped, not as sharp)

Remember how you used to fold paper in half to cut hearts for Valentine's Day? That's similar to how we're going to be cutting the pumpkins, so fold the Orange Felt in half and cut, rounding off the two loose corners, open it up and take a look. You can trim more off if needed, a little at a time. Now fold it back up and clip a little chunk from both folded ends and trim out toward the rounded corners.

Open back up and your pumpkin should be wonderful (not perfect, there are no perfect pumpkins). You can also assist your children cutting felt pumpkins with child-safe (rounded-point) scissors. No two pumpkins will be the same and that's part of the charm of this craft. Now pin your pumpkins onto the Brown Felt rectangles and mark with a pen where you'll be placing your Button Eyes.

Before sewing the button eyes in place, whip-stitch with Brown Embroidery Floss around the edge of your pumpkin (or use a sewing machine to sew in place), removing placement pins along the way. Sew on one button eye at a time, pulling through from the back knotted end, up to the top and down again to the back side, until the buttons are secured. Have your child (five and older) sew the buttons onto your placemats. You can embroider a triangle nose and smile onto each pumpkin with your floss or not, as these are placemats and the face will be covered anyway, unlike the pumpkin pillows below.

Holiday Leaf Tablecloth (update an old stained formal tablecloth)

1 Tan Felt 12" square
1 Red Felt 12" square
1 Yellow Felt 12" square
1 Brown Felt 12" square
1 Orange Felt 12" square
4 skeins Fall Multi-Colored Embroidery Thread/Floss
2 Embroidery Needles (if hand sewing)

Pull your old formal tablecloth out of the cupboard, throw it onto your Thanksgiving table and using a marker pen X-mark all the stains you find. This will be where you'll place fall colored appliqued leafs. Now it's time to cut your leaf shapes.

Begin by drawing a leaf shape (or several leaf shapes) onto a piece of cardboard and cut out to use as your leaf/s stencil. Using the stencil trace your shape/s multiple times onto your Felt squares. With your children's help, cut out your felt leafs and pin into place over the X-marked spots on the tablecloth.

Individually sew each leaf onto the table cloth with either Embroidery Thread using a whip-stitch around the leaf edges, or sew the edges down with a tight zig-zag stitch on the sewing machine. You've just updated your old, stained formal tablecloth with a fresh, fall look ready for Thanksgiving family dinner!

Pumpkin Pillows

2 Orange Felt 12" squares
1 small bag Stuffing (or old holey, yet clean washed unmatched socks)
2 skeins Orange Embroidery Thread
2 skeins Black Embroidery Thread/Floss
2 Black Buttons, 1½" to 2" round or triangle
2 Embroidery Needles (blunt-tip)

Before cutting your pumpkin shapes refer to the "Pumpkin Placemat" craft above, yet forming more of a round shape. Before sewing the two pieces together mark where you'll be sewing the Button Eyes and sew into place with the Black Embroidery Floss.

Next draw on a triangle nose, and smile mouth which you'll be stitching right over with the black embroidery thread. When the face details are in place pin the two pumpkin pieces together and stitch all around with the sewing machine, or hand whip-stitch with the Orange Embroidery Thread, leaving the top open for stuffing.

Stuff through the top opening the stuffing or socks until the pillow is as full and round as you're happy with. Pin the top, stitch closed and display on a couch or bed for the fall season.

Thankful Tree

1 Brown Poster Board, lightweight
1 Tan Felt 12" square
1 Yellow Felt 12" square
1 Orange Felt 12" square
2 skeins Fall Multi-Colored Embroidery Thread/Floss
2 Embroidery Needles (if hand sewing)

To make the tree cut the Poster Board in half lengthwise, allowing room for sprawling roots at the larger end trunk portion and spreading branches attached to the thinner opposite trunk section. Glue the two pieces together in the middle and hang in the dining room, awaiting leafs of thanks.

Using the same leaf stencils (or more simplified leaf shapes) from the "Holiday Leaf Tablecloth" craft above, trace leafs onto the felt squares and cut out leaf shapes. Have your children write what one thing they're thankful for onto each leaf, until all the leafs have something written on them.

Have your kids put the leafs together back-to-back (so the writing can be read on both sides) and stitch together on the sewing machine, or by hand as explained in the above crafts. After family meals have your children remind everyone what they're thankful for and hang one leaf per child onto the tree every night until all the leafs are hung. Then take them down, flip over and start again. By Thanksgiving your kids should have a better idea what the holiday's about and all the things they still can be thankful for.

Using these easy, low-cost crafts you'll be able to teach your kids how to sew, problem-solve, and safety rules around needles and other sharp objects. You will also have some great new finished crafts for the fall holiday season.