Black and White Buffalo Check Pillow Covers With Fall Leaf Appliqués

Black and white buffalo check is a seasonless and timeless fabric. I decided to use some buffalo check pillow covers in my Fall decor, but of course I had to do a little DIY to them...

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Of course, these black and white buffalo check pillow covers were already cute when I ordered them. And so reasonably priced!

But I was browsing at Hobby Lobby last week and found they had a few faux leather items for Fall.

And one of the things I found was this package of faux leather leaves.

Maybe you've seen them too and thought, "What can I do with faux leather leaves?"

Well I thought about those cute buffalo check pillow covers...

And then I thought they'd be even cuter together!

So here is my little black and white buffalo check pillow covers with fall leaf appliqués project...

Materials Needed

Black and white buffalo check pillow covers (or other pillow cover of your choice)

Faux leather Fall leaves (or any faux leaves)

2 skeins of black (or color of your choice) embroidery floss

sewing needle

scissors

How to Do It

1. Decide how many leaves you would like to add to each pillow cover. I chose to do three on one pillow cover and four on the other.

2. Decide on the leaf placement you would like. (A grid pattern? Scattered on the pillow? It's up to you and what you like!)

3. Thread your needle with about 18" of the entire embroidery floss (don't separate the threads). 

4. Hold the leaf in place with one hand and with the other hand, start your first stitch from inside the pillow cover. Insert the needle about 1/8' to one side of the stem at the bottom. Pull the needle and thread all the way through, leaving about two inches of thread on the inside.

5. Continue stitching approximately 1/4" stitches and 1/4" spaces between them. Stitch all the way around the leaf. 

6. As you stitch, pull and flatten the leaf to keep it straight. These leaves are curved and shaped so the  middle will stand away from the fabric a little bit.

7. When you pull the last stitch through to the inside, trim the remaining thread. Then tie the two ends in a double knot to secure it.

8. Repeat the process for the rest of the leaves.

This is the best way I came up with for attaching the leaves to the pillow covers. I first tried hot gluing them on, and while it worked very well for attaching them, it seemed a little plain. So I tried adding stitching to the leaves, but the hot glue made the needlework almost impossible.

Next I tried a combination of hot gluing the centers of the leaves and then stitching around them. That worked a lot better. But I didn't love the look of the leaves glued down in the center.

The way that looked the best to me was just stitching the leaves on. It allowed the centers to move as needed and gave the leaves a more three dimensional look that I really liked.

So that's my Fall black and white buffalo check pillow covers with faux leather leaf appliqués!

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking it out!