How To Make A Fabric Pumpkin

See how to make a fabric pumpkin using my free fabric pumpkin pattern. Scroll down for the tutorial and make a lot of your own diy fabric pumpkins for your perfect fall decor and Thanksgiving table.

This post includes affiliate links. Thanks for your support. If you want to see more fall decor ideas, make sure to visit these fall sewing projects.

How To Make A Fabric pumPkin

Am I reinventing the wheel? Possibly, haha! But these pumpkins were such a playful project I enjoyed between other patterns I've been working on, so I thought I could show you how make a few cute little fabric pumpkin decor for your home.

I’ve made these patchwork pumpkins using a simple template from my blog and they came together so quickly. Definitely worth giving them a try, you'll be surpriesd how lovely they turn out, every single time.

Before you start, make sure to save this project to Pinterest for your fall sewing inspiration (use THIS link, or image below)

I used these soft cotton prints from the New Dawn collection by Citrus And Mint Designs that the kind people at Riley Blake Designs sent to me to test out (thank you!). Such a treat to work with these soft florals and foliage, and I was happy to spot some mushrooms, spiderwebs, and even snails <3 (and you simply MUST check out the strawberry print here before it's gone!)

Supplies For the DIY fabric pumpkin

• 5 pieces of 6x3 inch quilting cotton (I used this New Dawn Collection)
• a 5" by 10 inch piece of cream colored muslin, burlap, or cream colored cotton solid
• some poly-fill
• coordinating sewing thread and some thicker thread, e.g. basting thread
• sewing machine, scissors, pins or sewing clips

Fabric Pumpkin Pattern - Free Pumpkin Template

To make these patchwork-style fabric pumpkins, you can either draw your own leaf-form template, or use mine.

Drafting your own template for fall pumpkin template is easy, too. Just draw a leaf-like form and cut out. Feel free to fold the paper and cut it folded, to keep it symmetrical.

To make it as simple as possible, I used a PDF template you most certainly already have if you've ever made this popular soft baby toy pattern. It's available in the Freebie Library for all my newsletter subscribers.

Sign up for my newsletter and get the full template once you confirm your subscription!

If you’re already a subscriber, you can access the template with the password in each newsletter, in the resource library:

Download it, print and you've got a template (and you can also make one more in other prints as a baby gift while you're at it)

tutorial

Use a ¼ inch seam allowance on this project (=approximately 7 mm in metric).

Step 1 - Cut Your Fabric PieceS

Use the PDF template or your own template to cut 5 pieces for diy fabric pumpkin. Also cut a 5 inch square of fabric in cream or brown color for the stem. Arrange the individual leaves for sewing.

Step 2 - Sew The First 2 Pieces Together

 Put the first two pieces with right sides of fabric together. Using a quarter-inch seam allowance, sew along one entire side of the piece and leave the other side open. Assembly will be easier if you don't stitch entirely to the end - stop at ¼" before the end of the edge (see photo above)

Step 3- Add the Remaining pieces

Add individual pieces as you sew. Each time you add a new one, just sew along one side, as shown in the photos below.

When the 5th leaf has been attached, you’ll need to stitch it together with the 1st leaf, but not entirely. Leave an opening for turning and stuffing.

Step 4 - Turn And Stuff

Then turn the fabric pumpkin right-side out. Add poly-fill or reuse tiny fabric scraps (jersey or minky scraps work great!) and stitch the opening closed.

When sewing the opening closed, use ladder stitch - it's perfect for the job!

Step 5 - Thread Around A Few times

Thread a yard of basting thread or embroidery floss through your embroidery needle. Start at the top center, pushing the needle through an eight of an inch of fabric and tying that off to get a firm anchor for the thread.

Then push the threaded needle down through the bottom center of your pumpkin, then...

Guiding your basting thread across the middle of a 'leaf' to the top center of the pumpkin and pull a bit so the thread is tight. Time for a next round: push the needle again from the top to the bottom center of the the pumpkin and return back up with the thread visible across the middle of the next sewn fabric piece. Repeat on all pieces. You get this:

Now to make and attach the stem. There are like a million ways to do this, all of them perfectly ok. I did this:

Step 6 - Form The stem

I grabbed a 5" by 10" rectangle of muslin, folded it once to get the short edges together, then again.

Then I I folded the piece three times, this time folowing a different direction. Once the multi-layer piece was only an inch by 2 inch large, I rolled it together, then whip-stitched by hand:

Do what works for you. Once done, don't cut off your thread, you can use it for the next step:

Step 7 - Attach The Stem

Your fabric pumpkin is finished! Now make a few more and decorate your home for fall!

These pumpkins will be a beautiful fall décor on a kitchen shelf, a wonderful centerpiece for your dining table or in your living room. Ready foir fall? I definitely am, with these adorable diy fabric pumpkins.

This free fabric pumpkin pattern is an easy way to make adorable diy fabric pumpkins for fall decorating, Thanksgiving and Halloween decorating. See more fall decor ideas here.

Save this project to Pinterest using this link or the photo below, so you have it ready any time you want to sew some fun and easy fall decor: