I’ve admired velvet pumpkins for years. There is something so awesomely luxurious about them. I love velvet. It makes me remember my grandmother… or rather, her formal sitting room… the one children were forbidden (unless on vary rare special occasions) to enter. It had plush velvet couches that a child could draw on simply by running a little finger along the fabric… like magic! No wonder velvet holds such fascination to me… still to this day!
So, I was super when a friend suggested we make our own velvet pumpkins. Being a novice at sewing, I was relieved to discover that not much sewing is needed. Velvet pumpkins are, in fact, quite easy to make!
Give them a try… you’ll love it.
Materials :
- velvet material
- rice
- wool fiber filler
- 1/2 cup of rice
- On Guard essential oil
- needle and thread
- brown wire
- green felt leaf
- scissors
- marker
- pot lid
** optional ** I added a few drops of On Guard essential oil and now my pumpkins fill the room with such a wonderfully spicy aroma. It’s autumn in our house for sure!
Method :
Put the velvet (velvet side down) on a flat surface like a tabletop or the floor.
Cut out a circle with scissors. The circle size will determine the size of your pumpkin. Make things easy by finding something in your home that is the right circular size to use as a stencil. I used the lid from my largest pot. Mark around the outside of the stencil with a marker. As your fabric is velvet side down, you will not be able to see the marker on your finished pumpkin.
Make your pumpkin any size you wish. Small pumpkins are adorable but larger ones are cool too. Making many pumpkins in various colors and sizes looks wonderful.
With needle and thread, sew a simple straight catch stitch around the outside of your fabric, leaving a length thread on either side.
When you gently pull the thread tails at the same time, your fabric will gather and close. Pull these threads until a small pouch has formed.
Fill your pumpkin with rice and a essential oil or a little cinnamon if you wish to add the scent of fall to your creation.
Fill the rest of the pumpkin with wool or other fiber filling.
When the pumpkin is nice and plump, close it firmly by pulling on the thread tails until the mouth of the pumpkin closes. If you think the pumpkin could be a little plumper, add more wool to it by loosening the mouth, adding more fiber and puling it closed again.
Tie the two thread tails together in a simple double knot. Trim the thread.
To give your pumpkin an indent, cinch the middle by passing the thread through the middle of the pumpkin, looping it and threading it back through the middle again. Tie the thread tight, cinching the pumpkin in the middle for that lovely ‘pumpkin’ shape.
Cut the stick stalk into about an inch and insert it into the mouth of the pumpkin.
Make the curled spirals of pumpkin vine by winding brown wire around a stick. Pull off the twirly brown wire carefully so that the curls remain in the wire. To elongate the twirls a little, pull gently on each end of the wire. Insert the twirls of vine into the mouth of the pumpkin.
Stick a green felt leaf (or paper if you don’t have felt) onto the stalk of the pumpkin.
Each pumpkin should take you about 10 minutes to make so there’s plenty of time for you to make a whole barrow full!
Here’s a quick cheat-sheet if you want to Pin this project for later or share it with your friends.
Happy Fall crafting,
Blessings and magic,
Donni
