DIY Fabric Pumpkin with a Wooden Bead Stem

Hey Y’all!

I am beyond excited about this project! A while back my Mama actually taught me how to make fabric pumpkins. Naturally, now that we are getting ready to head into fall… eventually…. like in a month or two.. (ha!) I couldn’t wait to bring all of you a step by step tutorial of how she did it! Of course I had to make them my own, and add a little twist!!

If you’d rather see me do a live tutorial, you can catch the replay here. The pumpkin I make live is very similar to the one you will learn how to do in this post.

Let’s start with what you need for this project.

• Embroidery Needle (The bigger The better)
• Embroidery Thread
• A good pair of Scissors
• 14×14 piece of fabric. (you can purchase your fabric new, or tear up an old flannel shirt, get creative with what you choose, and as always be resourceful).
• Fiber Fill (You could tear up an old pillow, or stuffed animal)
• 3 Wooden Beads (for your stem)
• Small Wooden Dowel (I actually used the end of a broken dollar tree flag)
• Glue Gun, and Glue Sticks
• Trimmings! This can be anything you want. I chose orange ribbon and raffia for this pumpkin, but I’ve been known to use all kinds of materials for the top! It’s up to you.
• OPTIONAL- A piece of Jewelry wire to make a vine
• OPTIONAL- White Yarn and Yarn Needle
• Bandaids, incase you’ve never sewn before

STEP 1:

Take your 14×14 piece of material and fold it twice to make it a small square.

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STEP 2:

Cut the corner of the material off on the open side making a half circle. Open it up and you should have something resembling a circle. It doesn’t have to be perfect!

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STEP 3:

Thread your needle with your embroidery thread. Make sure to double the thread up and tie it at the bottom. We want it to be super strong. Give yourself plenty of thread so you don’t run out. You need one continuous piece for the next step to work properly.

STEP 4:

You are going to do a very loose basting stitch around the perimeter of the circle. Don’t be scared! I promise you can do it. Weave the fabric on the needle alternating over then under until you fill your needle up, and then pull it through.

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STEP 5:

When you’ve completed the circle and you get back to where you started your stitch, carefully pull the thread so that the material starts to cinch up. (This is how we are going to make the pocket for our fiber fill). Do Not cut your needle off! You still need it!

STEP 6:

Start stuffing your pumpkin. The more you stuff it the stiffer it will be. Be careful not to over stuff because you want to get the hole closed without ripping any stitches out. Once you have it stuffed to your liking, start cinching the pumpkin closed by pulling the needle and thread tight.

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STEP 7:

Secure the hole closed by making a couple of stitches and a knot with your thread. This is where my Mama would stop with her pumpkins. The area where her hole was would be the top and she’d add the stem and trimmings and be done with it. They turned out super cute, but to make the pumpkins you see for sale in the store we are going to do a few more steps. (Keep your needle and thread attached)

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OPTIONAL:

If you want to change the color of your thread you can at this time. For some pumpkins I’ve made, I’ve changed it to white yarn at this point and used my yarn needle to carry on through the next steps. For the pumpkin we are working on for this post, I’m going to keep the thread the black embroidery thread. If you are making a bigger thicker pumpkin you would definitely want to change to a yarn needle and yarn at this point.

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STEP 8:

Take your needle and embroidery thread that is still attached and carry it over the side of the pumpkin to the opposite side. Flip it over and find what would be the center. and poke your needle through. It may help you to use the table to push the needle until you see it come through the hole on the other side.

STEP 9:

Pull the thread tight and repeat step 8 on the opposite side. (Kind of like you are cutting a pizza) . When you pull the thread tight it should kind of look like a cabbage patch doll’s booty.

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Keep repeating STEP 8 until you have 4 equal sections of your pumpkin. No worries, if you run out of thread just tie off what you’ve done so far in the center and re-thread your needle. Always start new thread where the bottom of your pumpkin (the hole) is.

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STEP 10:

Now you need to split the 4 sections again. Like I said before, think of it like slicing a pizza or a pie. Continue with step 8 until you have 8 sections.

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Once you have your 8 sections you are ready to add all of your trimmings and stem. Just tie your thread off and make sure it’s secure. (Now you can cut your thread, because you do not need it anymore).

STEP 11: THE STEM

You can easily add a stick from the yard with your desired trimmings, but for this pumpkin I decided to do a wooden bead stem. I cut the dowel down to size so it would fit 3 beads, leaving a small gap at the top for a bit of hot glue to hold the beads in place.

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STEP 12:

I used raffia and orange ribbon as the trimmings for this pumpkin. Use whatever you’d like and have fun with it. Put a considerable amount of hot glue in the top of your pumpkin and glue your stem and trimmings down. Don’t forget to add a small bit of glue in the gap at the top of the dowel so that your beads will stay on.

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TADAAAA!!! Your fabric pumpkin is all done, and it’s just as cute as anything you could buy in a store. Finish it out with a little curly cue piece of jewelry wire to make a vine and you are all set!! Add what you want, take away what you don’t like. Make it your own!! The possibilities are endless! I love how this little pumpkin turned out.

Of course I thought the “love you deerly” chalk couture sign I made live was the perfect partner for my pumpkin. 🙂

If you love this project as much as we do, will you do us a little favor and….

PIN IT FOR LATER!

If you aren’t part of our social media family, Erin and I sure would love to have you! You can find us on facebook, instagram, and pinterest. We are always coming up with fun things to do with y’all over there.

Thanks for hanging out through this post guys! If you make pumpkins send us pictures so we can see them <3 !

xoxo- Lizzy