This time of year, I love to add pumpkins throughout my home. I adore the handmade look of fabric pumpkins and the softness and texture they add to my fall décor. I created this adorable fabric pumpkin tutorial so that you could make your own fabric pumpkins with any fabric you like. For this budget-friendly DIY, you can even use upcycled fabric from old shirts or fabric remnants.
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This year I used some simple cream and beige ticking stripe fabric to make the pumpkins. Last year, I made peach-coloured pumpkins and black and cream ticking stripe pumpkins in addition to the beige and cream ones. I love neutrals, but you could certainly make these in any colour you like. The only criterion for the fabric is that it should be lightweight to medium weight. A heavy fabric would not be suitable because the tops and bottoms of the fabrics are tightly gathered. I haven’t tried this project yet with velvet, but I think it would work well as long as the velvet wasn’t too thick. Velvet is such a gorgeous fabric for fall.
Pumpkin sizes
For this adorable fabric pumpkin tutorial, you can make any size. The instructions here are for medium pumpkins, which are 5” in diameter and 3” tall, not including the stem. I’ll also include measurements and materials for the small (3 ½” by 2”) and mini (3” by 1 ½”) sizes at the end. Note that you can make taller or fatter pumpkins by adjusting the dimensions of the fabric piece used.
Materials for the medium pumpkin
- Fabric, cut to 16 ¾” wide by 8 ¼” tall (stripes vertical and parallel to short sides)
- Matching thread for your sewing machine
- Hand sewing needle and heavy thread (upholstery thread is the best)
- Polyester fibre fill or similar stuffing material
- Yarn needle (blunt) and yarn, 50” long, for pumpkin creases (I used a thin beige cotton yarn)
- Burlap fabric, cut to 1 ¼” by 9”, for stem (alternatively you can use a stick cut to size)
For small pumpkin
- Cut fabric to 12 ¼” wide by 6” tall
- Yarn piece should be 40” long
- Cut burlap piece 1” by 8”
For mini pumpkin
- Cut fabric to 11” wide by 5 ½”
- Yarn piece should be 30”
- Cut burlap piece 1” by 7”
Tools
- Cutting mat, ruler, and rotary cutter (not essential- alternatively you can make a cardboard rectangle template, mark your fabric, and cut with scissors)
- Scissors
- Tape measure
- Sewing machine (again, not essential- the 8 ¼” seam can be sewn by hand)
- Glue gun and a glue stick to attach the stem
Instructions for the adorable fabric pumpkin tutorial
- Cut your fabric to the dimensions provided under “Materials”. I use a cutting mat, ruler and rotary cutter to get the most accurate cuts. You can certainly cut it with scissors if you don’t have these tools.
- Fold the fabric over with the good side of the fabric on the inside and with the short sides aligned. Use your sewing machine to stitch a ½” seam along the short side. Alternatively, you can sew this seam by hand.
- Turn the fabric right side out and thread your hand sewing needle with the heavy thread. Tie a knot about 3 inches from the end of the thread. About ½” from the bottom edge of the fabric, start a running stitch. Continue along the entire bottom edge with closely spaced stitches. Pull tight and poke the fabric to the inside of the pumpkin (a chopstick can help with this). Pull tight again and tie a knot. Poke the knot to the inside.
Stuffing and sealing off pumpkin
- Stuff the pumpkin about three-quarters full with the fibre fill, packing it down as you go.
- Repeat the running stitch at the top of the pumpkin (you may want to use a slightly wider hem here, about ¾” from the edge), but add more fibre fill before you seal up the top. You want the pumpkin to be fairly firm with the stuffing in place. Pull the top thread tight and tie off with a knot. Poke the excess fabric and knot to the inside.
Create the pumpkin creases
- Thread the yarn onto the yarn needle and tie a knot about 3” from the end
- Start at the top- insert the needle very near the hole and fasten your yarn here. Next, wrap the yarn halfway around the pumpkin and push the needle through the bottom hole, all the way through the top hole. You may need to grasp the needle tightly and pull hard to get it through the hole (use pliers if it gets stuck). Tug the needle a little to create the crease on the first side.
- You will be creating a total of 6 creases. Repeat the process of wrapping the yarn around half the pumpkin and going through the opposite hole, making sure to space the 6 creases evenly. When you come up through the top for the last time, tie the thread ends together and poke them through the top hole.
Make the pumpkin stem
- Plug in your hot glue gun
- Cut your burlap piece and roll it tightly into a stem shape, adding a few drops of hot glue as you go. Seal the outer edge with a thin line of hot glue.
- Attach the stem to the top of the pumpkin using a generous amount of hot glue. Hold in place for a full minute for the glue to cool and set.
Displaying
The possibilities are endless with these easy DIY pumpkins, but some of my favourite ideas for display are to mass them together with different sizes and colours, in a basket or on a table. Last year I displayed them in a basket.
