DIY Stuffed Fabric Pumpkins

Categories: Decor, Costume, Halloween, Holiday, Fall

I love the look of stuffed fabric pumpkins for Autumn decor. I decided to use lots of Oly*Fun to create various sizes of pumpkins to decorate my porch and house this year. Oly*fun is a great for outdoor projects and the pumpkins look great on my covered porch. If you are decorating outside, you can keep them on a covered area. They double as decorative pillows, and hold up well to lots of hugs. My daughter has given all of ours a good squeeze.

What you need to make this project

Materials: Oly-Fun Craft Pack in Orange Crush; Oly-Fun Craft Pack in Pine; Oly-Fun Craft Pack in Snow White; Oly-Fun Craft Pack in Slate; Oly-Fun Craft Pack in Clover; Oly-Fun Craft Pack in Hot Fudge; Poly-Fil Premium Fiber Fill 10 pound box

Supplies: Matching thread; Matching yarn; Tulip Soft Fabric Paints in Matte Ebony; A hand sewing needle; Large quilting ruler; Scissors; Small paint brushes; (Optional) Embellishments - Glitter, lace, buttons, and gems; (Optional) Hot glue; (Optional) E6000

Quick Shop

Instructions

Step One

I cut a rectangle piece of Orange Crush Oly*Fun 15″ tall by 20″ wide.

Step Two

Fold the fabric in half width wise, matching up the 15″ sides. Hand or machine stitch those sides together about 1/4″ from the edges, using matching orange thread. If you are doing this by hand, make sure to go back over your stitches, filling in the spaces, so the stitch line is solid. Tie off and clip the excess the thread.

Step Three

Gather the top of the tube by hand sewing a running stitch and pulling it tight. Stitch through the gathered fabric to keep that end tightly shut. The stitches don’t need to be pretty, but they do need to be secure. Tie off and clip the excess the thread.

Step Four

Turn the tube inside out, pushing the gathered end flat.

Step Five

Tightly stuff the tube with Poly-fil. It should still be a bit squishy, as you need that compression later. Leave about 1 inch at the top without stuffing. This will make closing the opening much easier.

Step Six

Gather the open end of the tube by hand sewing a running stitch and pulling it tight. Stitch through the gathered fabric to keep that end tightly shut. This is harder than the 1st time, because the poly-fil will create pressure and tension. Again, the stitches don’t need to be pretty, just very secure. Tie off and clip the excess the thread.

Step Seven

Using yarn, wrap around the pumpkin tightly. Tie securely. Continue wrapping around the pumpkin 2-3 more times, using the same yarn strand, creating the pumpkin segments. Tie the yarn each time at the same place, to keep the yarn tightly wrapped. The amount of compression you give when wrapping will make the segments more or less defined. Tie off the yarn and cut the excess.

Step Eight

Cut a 4-5″ piece of yarn. On the other end, tie the yarn intersections tightly together. I wrapped the yarn under, over and between the intersections, so they would be bound together, but still segmented. Tie a few knots and cut off the excess yarn.

Step Nine

Cut a circle of Hot Fudge (brown) Oly*Fun big enough to cover the bottom gathering.

Step Ten

Center the circle over the bottom gathering and pin in place. Using brown thread and a needle, neatly hand stitch the circle to the pumpkin. Tie off and clip the excess the thread. This covers the gathering stitching and makes the bottom more like a real pumpkin.

Step Eleven

For the stem, measure around the pumpkin top gathering, about 1″ from the center. This will be how large the bottom of your stem will be. Cut a piece of Hot Fudge (brown) Oly*Fun into a trapazoid that is 1/2″ bigger than your stem bottom measurement (for seam allowance), 5″ tall, and 1″ in from each side. Mine equalled (x” bottom and x” top). Using scissors, carefully curve the top and bottom about 1/2″ shorter on each side, tapering to the center. This will help keep the stem straighter later when adding it to the pumpkin. It’s a trick I worked out through a little trial the error.

Step Twelve

Matching the sides up, hand stitch along that with matching brown thread. Make sure to go back over your stitches, filling in the spaces, so the stitch line is solid. Tie off and clip the excess the thread.

Step Thirteen

Gather the top of the stem, using a running stitch. Pull the thread tight to close the stem top. Neatly stitch through the gathers to keep the top closed. Tie off and clip the excess the thread.

Step Fourteen

Turn the stem inside out. Push the top up til it looks nice.

Step Fifteen

Stuff the stem tightly with Poly-Fil.

Step Sixteen

Using brown thread, hand stitch the stem to the pumpkin, matching the stem bottom with the pumpkin top’s center. Tie off and clip the excess the thread.

Step Seventeen

Using the Clover (bright green) Oly*Fun, cut a big heart shape leaf and circle. Cut the circle into a spiral. This will make a curly piece mimicking a pumpkin vine.

Step Eighteen

Using matching green thread, hand sew the leaf and spiral onto the pumpkin at the bottom of the stem. I stacked them, attaching the spiral by the center through the V of the heart to the pumpkin stem bottom. Tie off under the leaf and cut off the excess thread.

Step Nineteen

To decorate your pumpkin, you can paint on a face or design with fabric paint and a paint brush. You can also use stencils. You can use stitching, hot glue or E6000 to add gems, buttons, lace, beads and sequins. You can use fabric glue to add glitter. I like mine plain, as I can keep them on my porch longer. I used Tulip Soft Fabric Paint in Matte Ebony (black) to paint on a skull face.

Step Twenty

Make several stuffed fabric pumpkins and decorate your porch, office, school, library…etc with them.