September 07, 2017

Velvet Pumpkins - A Tutorial









This year I have noticed a lot of interest in velvet pumpkins.  I have also seen a few tutorials for these and so I thought I would try making some myself.






The truth is, I used several different fabrics to produce my pumpkins.



I used a stretchy copper coloured lame fabric, a stretchy blue velour fabric, a stretchy green velvet, and a patterned rayon fabric with no stretching capability.

They each had different draping qualities.

I started by cutting circles from the fabric.  I used a round placemat for the largest circle at 16".   I used a dinner plate at 11" and a salad plate at 9 1/2".  These were my templates for each circle.

I cut two circles of blue at 16".


A long heavy needle was used to stitch around the circumference of each circle and about 1/4" in from the cut edge.  I was not too careful about keeping the stitches the same length.  Using a variety of stitch lengths allows for both narrow and thick draping of the fabric.


The thread was pulled up to form a pouch.





About 3/4 cup of dried split peas were used in the bottom of the pouch.  I used less split peas in the smaller pumpkins.




Fiberfill was added and the thread was drawn as tight as possible.
Some more sewing was required in order to pull the circle tighter.
I ran the needle and thread across the circle and picked up the other side and continued back and forth until the hole in the centre was completely closed.





It was starting to look like a pumpkin, but, to give it more definition I squeezed the top and bottom of the pumpkin together and then ran the needle and thread down to the bottom.  The needle was moved over slightly and pushed back up to the top.  This was repeated one more time to make the connection between the top and bottom of the pumpkin stronger.



 By moving the stuffing around it is possible to make the pumpkin's shape change.

I should mention that the finished size of the pumpkin is about half the size of the original circle.




Putting on a stem and embellishing the pumpkin is the fun part.

I have collected pumpkin stems from previous years and let them dry out so it is a matter of sorting through the stems to find the right stem for each pumpkin.








Feathers were used on the two blue pumpkins.







The rayon pumpkin received a bit of trim.  The copper lame and green velvet pumpkins just got stems.

I used E6000 to attach stems and embellishments.






My favourite pumpkin is the green velvet.  I really liked the way the fabric felt and the way it draped.





The blue velour was nice, but bulkier to work with.




The rayon was okay too and I like that it adds a bit of pattern to the mix.

The copper lame worked well too.  It has less body than the other fabrics, but it worked just fine.




This was a fun project and a lot less expensive than the really high priced versions available for sale.  I do think that the expensive versions are quite exquisite, though.  They are just too costly for me. 






Thank you for stopping by.


This is an original Fair Meadow Place Publication.



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20 comments :

  1. These are the most beautiful fabric pumpkins I've seen yet! Love the real stems and the feather on one. I am visiting from Grammy's Blogging Grandmothers Series. Nice to meet you!
    :) gwingal

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  2. What gorgeous pumpkins...I am really drawn to the blue velvet ones and the feather is a perfect addition!

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  3. Hi Barbara -- I've seen these so many places and always wondered if they were hard to do. I think I followed most of it -- at least till after you got stuffed and then a good re-read might be necessary! The colors you chose are lovely and I like the mix of fabrics, the rich velvets with the shiny lame makes such a nice contrast. Lovely!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Jeanie. I hope you try them. They are not so difficult.

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  4. These are some gorgeous fabric pumpkins for sure! Thanks for sharing these with us at Funtastic Friday! Pinned :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for pinning and for stopping by.

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  5. Your's are the prettiest I've seen. And I love the fact that you've saved pumpkin stems over the years. Who would have thought of that? Well you did and now I will. Thank you for sharing.

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  6. Genious! I love it! And it actually looks easy to do too. Thank you so much for sharing this with Ashley and myself.
    Laurie x

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  7. Amazing. Thanks so much for sharing this tutorial. I've admired these cushions for a few years so I'm looking forward to making one (or more!). With no pre-plantain, I have no dried stalks though. Anyway, that's my problem. Great job!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for you comments. Enjoy making your pumpkins. You can always use a stick for a stem.

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  8. These look adorable, popping by for Laurie's link up. x Jacqui
    www.mummabstylish.com

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