Homemade Fabric Apples – and a delightful Autumn Craft Day

When autumn is a favourite season of yours, it is always going to be a special time to invite folk around to craft a day away with you. Last Friday, I optimistically ordered warm sunshine and requested no rain as I gathered together the last of Belle’s cottage garden jewels popping each precious bud into tiny jugs and jam jars and eagerly awaited the arrival of my six special guests. This was my second craft day with wonderful Ruth from Cucumber Wood Candles who had arrived earlier that morning in time to create the perfect spot for our guests to begin their creative day. And as Mr M and I hung last minute bunting together on the most perfect autumn day, I felt that moment of pure excitement and magic begin to grow. Join me today to see a few photos of our Creative Day together, plus I shall share with you a simple crafty tutorial, how to make your very own vintage fabric apples to add to your homespun seasonal decor…

It is both the oddest and simply the best of feelings to see the face of an Instagram chum walk through your kitchen door for the first time. As one who wears her heart on her sleeve, it might serve me well to warn you should you choose to visit one day soon, I shall squeal and there could be a tear or two when you arrive. I recall the many occasions I warned Little M’s of the perils of making friends on social media. And now look at me.

With coffee and homemade biscuits served all round and a quick hello said to Belle, six happy ladies made their way to The Little House to spend a sunny morning in the company of Ruth mixing and making scented candles in vintage tea cups together with tiny autumnal wax melts.

I enjoyed a happy while, dressing a pretty lunch table and preparing a hearty meal.

This is not the first time I shall have typed the words to express I need more hours in a day. One hour for lunch accompanied by much laughter and chatter was never going to be enough yet if we were to enjoy an afternoon of fabric and petals, it had to be. So leaving a chaotic crisis safely behind me in the kitchen we made our way back to the calm of The Little House where Ruth had secretly returned before us, to sprinkle her magic and set out everyone’s beautiful morning makes, each one deliciously scenting the room.

The next couple of hours passed all too quickly for me, helping eager hands sew pumpkins and fabric apples from recycled vintage curtains in shades of English Country Garden pinks and greens, quite the perfect hues for this reinvention.

You can find instructions for making the pumpkins in this seasonal post. They are fairly simple and require you to know only a running and gathering stitch. On our creative day, the ladies used cinnamon and clove scented rice as well as toy stuffing to fill theirs which added both an autumnal fragrance and helped to weight the gourd. 

To make the fabric apples, you need no additional sewing skills and the process is the same. The trick with this fruit is to get your stuffing to fabric ratio accurate. For the pumpkin you need lots of filling; less is more for the apple. Aim for about two thirds of your pouch to be full of stuffing and scented rice and the final third of the pouch to be fabric only. The apple needs height. It is longer than the pumpkin is plumper.

The cut size we used for our fabric apples was six by eight inches and complimented well the pumpkin which was six by eleven inches. Remember you can scale either up or down to suit your own decor. Note the number of segments now. Different for pumpkins and apples. The pumpkins have five or six. The apples have only three or four and the jury is out as to which is more apple like. In the first photo below, three segments are shown, in the second, four. In the final photo, those fabric apples at the front of the bowl each have four segments and those at the back of the bowl, just three.

One final tip, don’t pull your segment thread as tight for the apple as you do for the pumpkin. You want the fabric at the top of the apple to be loose enough to manipulate into an apple shape. Ha ha. I have just proof read all those instructions back to myself. Sounds terrifying and not fun at all! Rest assured it is jolly good fun, especially whilst chatting with a friend or two over a cup of tea.

I thought you might also enjoy seeing this little poppet too. “What’s this do you think?” I asked Master M via WhatsApp. “A plum?” he replied apprehensively. Smart boy. Shame his mother is not quite so clever as I have no idea of the size of fabric I used nor how it turned out to be more damson-like than the the apples and pumpkins themselves. I’ll know by next autumn though so do pop back.

Or better still, come to next autumn’s Crafts at The Little House with Whitewood and Linen Creative Day. We’ll make a bowlful of brimming seasonal fruits together and have a giggle over a cup of tea shall we? I am left wondering after this workshop, did anyone notice despite the best efforts of Mr M and I, Belle’s bunting snapped before the photos were taken?! I won’t tell if you don’t.

So, how much decoration is enough decoration for autumn in your world do you think? I love to decorate both the home and Belle at this time of year and Doris doesn’t generally escape some sort of makeover either. And as is my want, trimmings usually come in the foraged or recycled variety and most are homemade. However you choose to accessorise your home this season, I hope your efforts reward you and yours with all the comfort and warmth you deserve. Until next time…

Early on in January 2023 I shall publish dates for all my workshops for the coming year. It is my hope that if I do so early enough, you might be able to plan your year ahead to include a visit to The Little House here in Hampshire for a Creative Day with me and perhaps a talented crafty guest as well. Would you like that? When I publish the dates, I will do so here on my website and over on my Instagram and Facebook accounts. And no doubt there will be a special newsletter with information too. If you would like to be notified when those dates will be released, send me an email or leave a comment below and I’ll add you to my list. And if you will be travelling a fair distance and would like to stay a while, look here for a few recommendations of places to stay. We have some beautiful countryside around where I am lucky enough to live and there are lots of wonderful places to visit which I am more than happy to help you with. Do keep in touch x