Free Autumn Embroidery Pattern

Last Updated on August 15, 2026

The air is fresh and crisp, Halloween decorations have filled the aisles at Target, and everyone is enjoying their pumpkin lattes. So that can only mean it’s time for some Fall crafting! I’m so pleased to have finished this beautiful and FREE Autumn embroidery pattern for you!

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While wool felt might be my first love, hand embroidery is a very close second. I love embroidery and I wish I had more time for it! Thankfully, I managed to make a bit of time between sewing Christmas ornaments (oh yes, Holiday market prep starts in the summer, if not earlier!) to get this sweet pumpkin-themed design finished in time to share for the spooky season!

I had so much fun adding as many cute Autumn elements as possible to this embroidery design. The mushrooms, and acorns, and oak leaves, and wheat stalks!

Plus, experimenting with the colouring produced such a cute and vibrant result. I hope you love it as much as I do!

Let’s get into it!

Materials

Here’s what you’ll need to make an Autumn embroidery design:

Printed PDF Pattern – Find it at the bottom of the post
Cotton Fabric – 11″ x 11″
Matching Felt – 10″ x 10″
Coloured Pencils
Marking Tool – I used a mechanical pencil
Light Pad – optional, a window will also work
Sewing Needle
Scissors – Fabric shears and embroidery snips
Embroidery Threads in a selection of Autumnal colours
Embroidery Hoop – 8″

I went with a solid, cream-coloured fabric and matching felt colour. A subtly printed fabric could be cute too!

Note: A beautiful embroidery stitch guide is included with the free pattern to help you with all the stitches required for this design.

Prep the Fabrics

Step 1: Place the hoop on top of the felt and use it as a guide to cut a circle 1″ beyond the edge of the hoop.

Step 2: Lay the felt circle on the backside of the fabric and cut a circle another 1″ beyond the edge of the felt.

How to Transfer an Embroidery Design to Fabric

I like using a light pad for transferring embroidery patterns to fabric.

Step 1: Place the paper pattern on top of the light pad. Layer the fabric on top of the pattern, centered.

Step 2: Turn on the light, so the embroidery design will be visible through the fabric. I use the maximum brightness setting, but I have terrible eyesight!

Step 3: Trace the embroidery design onto the fabric using a tracing tool. I used a mechanical pencil for this project, but an erasable Frixion pen would also work.

Here’s a video showing the tracing process

If you don’t have a light pad, you can also use a window on a bright day. You can refer to this post for guidance on that technique.

Colouring an Autumn Embroidery Design

This is really fun!

It’s my first time trying this technique of adding colour to fabric. It’s a subtle and efficient way to add depth of colour to an embroidery without having to fill in the whole design with thread stitches.

Simply use a selection of coloured pencils to colour in all the design elements. Start by colouring lightly, then go back and add extra layers of colours both to deepen the colours and blend out the markings.

Here’s a video showing the colouring process.

Next, center the fabric back on top of the felt and secure both layers in the embroidery hoop.

Stitching a Free Autumn Embroidery

Now you’re ready to start stitching!

Step 1: Begin with the mushrooms. Use 2 strands of red thread to stitch the outline of the mushroom caps with a split stitch.

Step 2: Stitch around the stems with 2 strands of almond thread and split stitch.

Step 3: Use 2 strands of cream thread to create the dots on the caps with French knots.

Step 4: Move on to the acorns. Use 2 strands of lighter brown thread and a split stitch to sew the outside of the acorn bottoms.

Step 5: Switch to 2 strands of darker brown thread and stitch around the acorn caps.

Step 6: Continue with 2 strands of darker brown and create the X’s across the cap with straight stitches.

Step 7: Use 2 strands of a rich green to stitch the outlines of the oak leaves with split stitching.

Step 8: Continue with 2 strands of rich green to stitch the veining with straight stitches.

Step 9: Use 2 strands of dark grey and a split stitch to embroider the stem and curly vine.

Step 10: Stitch the pumpkin leaf outline with 2 strands of bright green and a split stitch. Stitch the veining with straight stitches. (You’ll see in later photos that I opted to add extra veining to the leaf.)

Step 11: Switch to 2 strands of lighter green and sew the little leaf outlines with a split stitch and the veins with straight stitches.

Step 12: Create the three flowers in different colours with the woven rose stitch and using 3 strands of thread.

Step 13: Add 3 French knots to the center of each flower with 2 strands of gold thread.

Step 14: Use 2 strands of orange thread to sew all the pumpkin segments with a split stitch.

Step 15: Create the wheat stalks with a line of split stitching for the stem and 7 lazy daisy stitches for the leaves. Use 2 strands of a light brown.

Note: In the finished photos below, you’ll see that I added an extra light-green leaf and a third wheat stalk to fill out the design a bit. Feel free to add as many embroidered elements as you like!