How To Make Fabric Pumpkins

My leftover fabric scraps had been piling up, and that means one thing: time to put on the crafty hat. I have two rules when it comes to crafts. 1) it must be easy and quick, 2) it must serve a need.

I needed more Halloween decorations because this is the first year in our big house. And I didn't have large pieces of scrap fabric so it needed to be something small. Right. Mini fabric pumpkins it is. Here's what to do if you want to be cool like me.

Step 1. Gather your materials. You'll need scissors, thread, a needle, fabric, and some kind of stuffing material. It can be poly-fil, rice, or in my case black eyed peas. They are $1 a bag at the grocery store. It's not pictured here, but you'll also need a hot glue gun and a stem. I suggest the next time you are at the grocery store, dig around the bottom of the mini-pumpkin bin for a stem that has broken off. I didn't find one, obviously, that's why it's not in the picture.

As for the fabric, I don't have a recommendation for the size circle you need. Smaller than a dinner plate, but bigger than a coffee saucer. I didn't measure mine because I simply cut the biggest circle I could out of the fabric I had left. The size of the circle is not as critical as you might think. It'll look normal in the end even if your circle is a few inches bigger or smaller than mine.

Step 2. Sew a loose stitch around the edge.  Fold over the edge of the circle, about 0.25" to 0.5". Thread your needle and sew long, loose stitches around the entire edge. This does not need to look nice; no one will ever see it.

Step 3. Pull the stitch tight. When you are done sewing around the edge, pull the end of the thread to form a sack. Pour in the stuffing. Don't overstuff...you don't want this to look like a pincushion. The end product looks better if there are some fabric folds, bean bag-ish. When you are done with this step, pull the sack closed like this:

Step 4. Stitch the opening closed. As tight as you can, pull the sack closed. Then sew it closed. It doesn't matter how ugly this is; it's going to be the bottom of the pumpkin.

Step 5. Make the pumpkin grooves. Poke your needle and thread through the center of the pumpkin so it pops out in the center ( or center-ish) on the flip side. This may take a few tries especially if you are using a short needle. Once you are happy with the center position, wrap the thread around the outside of the pumpkin, go back through the seam on the other side, and push it through the pumpkin out the center again. It shouldn't be difficult to find the center hole, but it may take a few tries. Remember to pull it as tight as you can. We're making grooves here people. Do it several more times until your pumpkin looks like this:

This becomes the top of the pumpkin. Now comes the stem. You might've had luck at the grocery store in the pumpkin bin. Hopefully you didn't rip one off of a good pumpkin because that's just WRONG. You could also go to a pumpkin patch and take some off the rotted, unsellable pumpkins. Or you could buy the mini-pumpkins, decorate the house with them, and "borrow" the stems after Halloween has passed. That's the option I chose. I did, however, find one stem at the grocery store bin. I used it on my test pumpkin, like so:

 Step 6. Hot glue the stem on. Quit laughing, I know my first pumpkin attempt was a little lumpy.That's why I took pictures of the third pumpkin, to iron out all the manufacturing details. If you follow the steps above, you should have a cute decoration by the end of step 6.  Or a tasty dog toy. I suggest putting them high if you have furry creatures around.

Good luck and happy crafting!