Fall leaves and acorns scale from a single small appliqué up to a full 150cm mixed garland, and every one of them works as a genuine stash-buster — a single leaf or acorn barely dents a skein of scrap yarn.
A tapestry needle for weaving in ends and attaching pieces to a garland base covers most of what these need. The stuffed acorn versions also want a bit of fiberfill on hand.
Fall leaf and acorn patterns to explore
1. Fall Garland
Dublin Bay Crochet is the most complete option here: one pattern covers 3D stuffed acorns plus maple, oak, and small leaf shapes, all mixed onto a single 150cm garland chain. It’s worked in Aran-weight yarn with picot-stitch texture on the leaves, so it’s a bigger project than the single appliques below but gets you every motif in one pattern.
2. Mini Acorn Appliqué
Itchin’ for Some Stitchin’ keeps this one genuinely tiny at 1.5 inches tall, using less than a yard of yarn per color. The designer built it to sew onto other projects like hats and booties rather than stand alone, so it’s the pattern to grab if you want to add a fall accent to something you’re already making.
3. Acorn Garland
Handy Little Me scales the acorn up to 3 inches long in DK yarn, stuffed for real dimension rather than flat like the applique above, then strung on twine for a rustic garland look. The designer notes it works in colors beyond traditional brown if you want something less literal.
4. Leaf Appliqué
Jess Crafting builds a single symmetrical leaf from a 16-chain foundation, using taller treble stitches clustered at the center and shorter stitches tapering toward the edges for a realistic leaf shape. It’s part of a wider autumn applique series from the same designer that also includes toadstool, pumpkin, and apple shapes if you want to mix motifs yourself.
5. Maple Leaf Appliqué
Raffamusa Designs works this one at 3.3 inches in DK yarn with a picot-edged point at the top, part of a wider Autumn Leaves Collection that also includes willow and birch shapes if you want more variety than shown here.
6. Oak Leaf Appliqué
The same designer’s oak leaf from that Autumn Leaves Collection finishes smaller and narrower at 2.9 by 1.7 inches, using the characteristic lobed oak silhouette instead of the maple’s pointed one. Same DK yarn and hook size as the maple leaf above, so the two pair easily in a mixed garland.
7. Happy Autumn Leaves
Moogly goes considerably bigger at 9 by 5.75 inches in worsted cotton, using tall post stitches down the center and around the edge to create raised, dimensional veins rather than a flat surface. Sized to double as a dishcloth, coaster, or table setting piece, not just a garland motif.
8. Amigurumi Acorn
Designer June Gilbank of PlanetJune builds a 2-inch stuffed acorn with a removable cup rather than a fixed one, worked in worsted weight with a twig accent made from yarn-wrapped pipe cleaner. Omit the optional embroidered face for a more realistic look, or keep it for something more whimsical.
9. Mini Acorn Bookmark and Garland Set
Virkadia covers two uses in one pattern: a 2.75-inch stuffed acorn with a textured cap that works as a standalone bookmark, or strung with the included 1.5-inch leaf motifs into a garland. Worked in medium weight yarn across three colors.
10. Crochet Acorn
Pretty Darn Adorable gives you four sizes in one pattern, from a 2.5-inch mini up to a 6.5-inch large, all using the same long-double-crochet texture for the cap. Worsted weight throughout, so scaling between sizes is mostly a matter of round count rather than switching yarn.
11. Acorn Appliqué
Jess Crafting uses puff stitches for the cap instead of the long-double-crochet texture seen elsewhere on this list, worked in DK yarn as a flat appliqué rather than a stuffed acorn. Part of the same autumn applique series as the leaf pattern above, so the two are designed to sit together on a garland.
12. Leaf Coaster
Jenny & Teddy combines puff stitches and double crochet for a 4 to 5-inch leaf coaster, with an optional matching crocheted basket base included in the same pattern if you want somewhere to keep a stack of them.
Choosing a fall leaf or acorn pattern
Dublin Bay Crochet’s garland is the one to pick if you want a finished piece without designing your own layout. If you’d rather build your own mixed garland, Itchin’ for Some Stitchin’ and Jess Crafting both offer small, flat appliques that string together easily, while Handy Little Me’s stuffed acorns add some dimension to the mix. Use each designer’s own directions for construction and finishing choices rather than mixing details between patterns.