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With fall just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about all things pumpkin! If you’ve ever admired those gorgeous designer velvet pumpkins, but hated the price, this tutorial is for you! Here is a super easy way to make your own embellished velvet pumpkins…no real sewing skills required! Let’s get started, shall we?
Gather Your Velvet Pumpkin Materials
For this project, you will need:
- Stretch velvet fabric of your choice
- Fiber Filling
- Rice, beans, or Poly Filler Pellets
- Pumpkin stems(or make your own from branches, grapevine, or clay)
- Needle and coordinating thread
- Scissors
- Glue(hot glue or E6000 work well)
- Feathers(optional)
- Sequins, rhinestones, buttons, etc(optional)
Cut Your Fabric Round
The first step is to decide how large you’ll want to make your pumpkins, and cut a circle of fabric. I traced an eight inch cake pan onto my fabric to use as a template. This will make a 4-5 inch finished pumpkin. Make sure you trace onto the back side of your fabric.
Next you’ll cut along the line you traced. Don’t worry if your cuts are a little jagged – they won’t show.
Stitch The Edge
Don’t be afraid of this step! It really requires no real sewing skills. We are basically going to make longish stitches back and forth through the edge of the fabric that we will then ‘gather’ and draw in to close. This is a great project to do with young children!
Thread your needle with a coordinating thread color and tie it off.
Place your fabric circle velvet side down.
Add your first stitch. Make sure your knot goes on the inside of your fabric so it won’t show once you pull it all in together.
Continue stitching all the way around the circle in even(ish) intervals. The closer your stitches are together, the tighter your bunches will be.
Now, begin to gently scrunch your fabric together by pulling the needle and thread against the velvet. You are basically creating a little drawstring pouch. Do not tie off or cut your thread yet.
Don’t pull your pumpkin closed all the way yet – we want to make sure we have plenty of room to fill it.
Fill Your Pumpkin
Once you have your fabric drawn up into a pouch, add a good handful of poly pellets or rice to the bottom. This gives your pumpkin weight and stability. I’d say fill a good quarter of the pouch.
Next, add the stuffing over the pellets. You want to really fill it tightly so the pumpkin is firm. Add different amounts of stuffing at the top pleats to create ‘shoulders’ in your pumpkin. Make them all different sizes to create a more natural look. Pack lots of filling into your pumpkin until it has your desired firmness.
Sew Up The Top
Once your pumpkin is filled, go ahead and draw your thread tight to close the top of the pumpkin. You want to make sure it is very secure before you add feathers or the stem.
Knot your thread, but don’t cut it yet! Once you’ve tied off the top of the pumpkin, we will create a puckered bottom. You don’t have to do this, but it really gives the pumpkin a finished and nice shape.
Take your needle at the top of the pumpkin, and go straight down through the bottom of the pumpkin. You may have to wiggle it a bit to get through the pellets at the bottom. Pull tight.
Once through, move over slightly, and go back through the bottom up through the top. Pull tight again to ‘squish’ the pumpkin. Repeat a few times, then tie off your thread at the top of the pumpkin. Cut your thread.
Whew! I promise, that was the hardest part of making a velvet pumpkin. Now, onto the creative stuff!
Add Feathers [If Using]
Now, my favorite part….feathers! If you aren’t adding any, skip to the next step.
Get creative with different colors and patterns here. Simply glue your feathers in bunches around the top of the pumpkin. Add the longest feathers first so they’ll be at the bottom, then shorter ones over that.
If you don’t want to use feathers, consider using lace or trim for a fancy look.
Add A Stem
Now, the final flourish…a stem! You can use real stems, as I did, or get creative and make a stem out of a stick, grapevine, or clay. All will look fantastic! Simply glue your stem really well to the top of your pumpkin. You will need to hold it for a while to make sure the glue sets properly, especially if you have embellishments. And that’s it!
Enjoy Your Velvet Pumpkins
Wasn’t that fun? Making your own velvet pumpkins is so easy to do! Add them to tables, mantels, shelves, trays, bowls, and more. They’re perfect for gifts, and make a fun, crafty get-together, too. So gather some girlfriends(or your kiddos!), and get to making! Happy Creating!
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