Pumpkin Palooza: A Fabric Pumpkins Tutorial

I have to admit, I have fallen hard for the cute little fabric pumpkins in the stores and all over Pinterest.  I always love an opportunity to get together with my favorite gal pals to do a fun craft night, so I hosted a little Pumpkin Palooza party over the weekend.  I hauled out all of my scraps of fabric and everyone brought little bits of fabric they thought might make great pumpkins and we sat to down to craft some fabric pumpkins.

I had asked a local pumpkin farmer if he would save some stems for me and I was delighted when he gave me a box of pumpkin stems.  Most were small, but there were a few large ones in the box.  To dry them out I put them in the oven at 200 degrees for about 30 minutes.

I picked up one stem of leaves at Wal-Mart just as an option, and I was so happy I did because we all loved putting the little leaves on the pumpkins.  Plus, the leaves hide a not so perfect closure.

I tried making the pumpkins in a few different ways.  The first was to sew a “tube” and then use embroidery floss to create the pumpkin shape.  You can see that technique in the buffalo check pumpkin.  Then, I tried the circle method and developed my own quick and easy way to make pumpkins.  I think you could easily make several of these in one hour when you have the technique down.

So, because y’all are the greatest, I put together this little tutorial for you to make your own little fabric pumpkins.  It really couldn’t be easier.  This would be a fun project for early teen and tweens to do as well.  It teaches a few good hand sewing skills.  One more fun pic and then we will be on to the tutorial.

Here’s what you will need to make these small pumpkins:

Fabric                             Pumpkin Stems                            PolyFil                              Pinto Beans (dry in the bag)                 Needle                           Embroidery Floss                          Fake Leaves                    Hot glue gun

Step 1: Cut a circle:  I cut about a 12″ diameter circle for the smaller pumpkins.  It doesn’t have to be exact.

Step 2:  Use embroidery floss to gather the fabric close to the edge you cut.

           Step 3: DO NOT CUT thread or tie in a knot.  Leave the gathering  a little loose.  You will pull it tight and knot it after your done stuffing it.

Step 4:  Fill the bottom with dried pinto beans so it has some weight.

Step 5:  Stuff with PolyFil making sure to stuff it full.

Step 6:  Pull the gathered fabric together tightly.  I then take the needle and thread and hand sew an X over the opening pulling it really tight so the hole isn’t really open at all.  I knot at this point but don’t cut your thread.

Step 7:  Then take the needle and go down through the stuffing and out the bottom of the pumpkin and back up to the top of the pumpkin grabbing a little of the fabric on the top with your needle.  Pull it really tight and knot.

Step 8:  Put a large gob of glue on the opening.  I found this works the better than putting it on the items you want to glue on.  Place the leaf and stem on holding it in place until it sets up.

Easy right?  Super easy.  Now, go dig through your fabric scraps and rush to your local pumpkin patch before all the other crafty women  go home with your pumpkin stems.

If you make some pumpkins, please e-mail me a picture.  I would love to see what you create!  My email, slightlycoastal at gmail dot com.

P.S.  Isn’t that wreath the cutest?  I picked that one up at Target.