DIY fabric pumpkins (plus a giveaway winner)

Before the Christmas train officially leaves the station next week, I thought I’d share a quick tutorial on the fabric pumpkins I made a few days ago to go along with my Thanksgiving decor.

I started with an extra napkin I had left over from the one-hour napkin curtains I made a few years back. You don’t have to use a napkin for this project; you can use just about any piece of scrap fabric you might have lying around.

I also grabbed a handful of polyester fiberfill that I stole from an old pillow in the basement.

Fabric-and-polyfil

I laid out the napkin, good-side down, and put a ball of fiberfill in the center. Starting at one corner, I began wrapping the fabric over the fiberfill, creating folds as I went along.

Fitting-fabricAt the halfway point, I hand-stitched the top to secure the folds I’d created so far.

Sewing-fabric-around-pumpkinNext, I took a limb from the backyard and trimmed off a small piece to serve as my pumpkin “stem.”

Cutting-limbs

I jammed the stick in the open hole at the top of the pumpkin, then continued folding and stitching the fabric together around it.

Sewing-around-limb

To hide the wonky-looking stitches at the top, I took a piece of burlap garland, folded it in half, cut a small hole in the center, and fit it over the stem.

Cutting-burlap

Finally, I ruched (just a fancy word for bunching up) 😉 the burlap by pulling a bit of twine, threaded through a fat needle, through the length of the garland.

Bunching-burlap

Done!

Finished-pumpkin

I made a second pumpkin out of some scrap fabric so I could display a pair of them on the rocking chair on our front porch.

To prevent my pumpkins from getting weather-damaged, I sprayed them with a coat of NeverWet®.

NeverWetThis product repels liquid, keeping surfaces dry and clean. I love this stuff because it dries clear without any noticeable finish, and essentially turns my “indoor” fabric into “outdoor” fabric.

Pumpkins-on-porchWhat do you think of my makeshift Thanksgiving pumpkins?

Special thanks to Rust-Oleum® for providing, at my request, the NeverWet I needed to complete this pumpkin project. 

Now before I say, “Sayonara,” I wanted to announce the winners of the Xcluder Rodent and Pest Barrier Kit:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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3 Responses

  1. Jan says:

    Very cute! I have an even easier way (in my opinion anyway) to share — take a roll of toilet paper, wrap some batting around it, wrap with fabric – tucking ends into the toilet paper roll, add a stem (I use twigs or cinnamon sticks) and you are done. Quick & easy – my kind of craft 🙂

  2. Barb says:

    Such a fast and adorable project. I really like these pumpkins. Thanks for the tip on Never wet product.

  3. Jill T. says:

    I like this craft too and particularly the burlap finish. I will have to try this craft as well. Good job!

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