Hi Everyone! As part of the Sew Much Fun Halloween Blog Hop hosted by Jen at Faith and Fabrics, I decided to make some autumnal fabric pumpkins. I wanted to make something new for the house but decided to forgo the Halloween novelty fabric and use fall fabric so I could leave them out through Thanksgiving.
These pumpkins are such a breeze to make. I poked around Pinterest for a while and found this easy tutorial from HGTV. Mainly I was looking for suggestions on the size of the individual rectangles that make up each puff on the pumpkin. This tutorial had three sizes worked out which was just perfect.
To make the sections of one pumpkin, I cut six rectangles of equal size. I stacked the rectangles and trimmed off each corner, making a slightly curved shape. Next I sewed the long side of the rectangles together from top curve to bottom, using a large, basting stitch. (My Janome machine stitch length was set to four.) Use the threads on either end of the seams to gather the pumpkin sides to your liking.
Then you hand sew a loose, running stitch around the bottom opening and draw the opening to a close. Stuff with pillow stuffing (you might be able to use batting scraps?) and then sew a loose running stitch around the top to close the opening. When closing the top and bottom openings, it doesn’t have to look perfect because both areas are covered.
To cover the bottom, I traced a round object (the top to my little button jar) and cut a circle of matching fabric. I used raw edge applique to attach it, hiding the bottom stitches. I thought the blanket stitching looked really nice for this.
Here is another one.
I found a sprig of fall leaves at Ben Franklin and decided to cut it apart, using the leaves to decorate the tops of the pumpkins. I also took apart two beaded napkin rings I had to use the little vines with red and gold beads on them. They look really cute.
The smallest one, below, is my favorite. Probably because I really like the fabric used for this one.
Nothing here that can’t be accomplished with a bit of hot glue and some leftover bits found around the house! I was glad to have a bag of stuffing that was nearly full (leftover from making these stuffed blocks for my grand baby). It took the remainder of that bag to stuff the three pumpkins. I found twigs in the yard for the main pumpkin stem. The only thing I purchased specifically for this project was the fall leaf sprig for a whopping $2.99!
I hope you will give these a try. If you get stuck or have questions, don’t hesitate to comment or shoot me an email. I am happy to help.
For more Halloween inspiration, be sure to check these posts out too. Have fun!!