Have you swooned and drooled and stayed up nights wondering how to make velvet pumpkins? Then you’re gonna love this tutorial!
With all the yummy drinks and baked goods you’ll be making this fall, it’s kinda fun to created something that won’t be consumed in seconds by hoards of small children #amiright?
DIY Velvet Pumpkin Tutorial
1. Collect Stems. This is one of the reasons these pumpkins are so gorgeous: they start with real stems! Glean stems from a local pumpkin patch or save them from your favorite winter squash you baked for dinner last night. Stems need to be completely dried, so leave them in a dry, warm place for a week or two.
2. Choose and Cut your Fabric. Velvet pumpkins are all the rage and no wonder with so many delectable colors to choose from! I’ve also experimented with silk, wool, velvet, corduroy, wovens, and even prints. Whatever you decide, cut your chosen fabric in a circle–anywhere from 3 inches to the width of the fabric.
3. Gather the Edges–Thread a large needle with upholstery or heavy duty thread and run a basting stitch around the entire edge of your cloth circle.
4. Cinch your circle nearly closed, like a pouch. Leave the needle and thread attached, but don’t knot it!
5. Fill the cavity of your pumpkin about 2/3 full with rice, beans, or plastic pellets.
6. Stuff the pumpkin the rest of the way with fiber fill.
7. Close the hole: Criss cross the opening of your pumpkin with some tight stitches to anchor the hole.
Now, your pumpkin is nearly done, and most tutorials quit at this point. But I think the pumpkin looks too round and ball shaped at this point, so this is where I add:
The “Secret Technique” for Authentically Shaped Pumpkins
8. Squeeze the center of the pumpkin from top and bottom with your thumb and finger of your left hand and push your needle down through the center to find the bottom of the pumpkin.
9. Flip the pumpkin upside down and pull the needle through. Cinch tight, and go up and down through the middle of the pumpkin a few more times. This creates a depression in the stem area of the pumpkin, allowing the ‘shoulders’ of the pumpkin to be full and voluptuous. Now you know the secret–don’t you feel special???!
10. Tie off: When your pumpkin has the shape you want, do a few more stitches across the stem area, and tie it off.
11. Glue a stem to the middle of your pumpkin. And you’re done.
Unless you count the following steps of cuddling, petting, and cradling your adorable pumpkin in your hands, and inviting friends over to meet him. Because it’s not enough to just text a photo of your lovely pumpkin. As Nester said when she was giving away a set of Love Feast Pumpkins, “If you come to my house in the fall I’ll insist you hold one. If you were a girl who loved stuffed animals or live kittens, then that translates over to wanting to pet these Plush Pumpkins as an adult.” They must be held to fully appreciate their charm.
I made the whole pile of pumpkins in the above photos in an hour or so the other afternoon. I’ve since made a half dozen more in all sizes (try 2 inch. across if you want to cry at the cuteness!) Here’s what they looked like in the centerpiece at a autumn dinner party I hosted last week…
Wanna know what we ate? Garlic White Lasagna (recipe in my cookbook!), garlic bread, tossed salad, homemade applesauce, and Apple Crisp Cheescake from Pinterest that was as magnificent as it sounded.
If you’re wondering how I had time to craft all afternoon and still feed my family a homemade, nutrient dense meal, then you’ll want to sign up for my exclusive emails where I share my best tips for a smart kitchen so you can feed your family well and still have time to make velvet pumpkins 😉
Thank you SO much for the excellent tutorial!
You’re so welcome! did you make some pumpkins? I’d love to see them!
Where do you find high quality velvet?
amazon 😉 you can check out the links to resources in the post!
Where can I buy the pumpkin stems.
I don’t know! I always just save them or ask friends to save them or go to a pumpkin farm and ask around!
Love the dental floss tip! Thank you! Lately I’ve seen feathers added around the stem. Have you tried that and if yes, how did you attach the feathers? Hot glue gun? There doesn’t seem to be anything on the internet about attaching feathers to velvet pumpkins. The Gumps catalog has some lovely examples of you haven’t yet seen them with feathers.
Yes, I would hot glue!
to hide the gathered puckered top better and make the pumpkin stem look more recessed, I used a running gathering stitch that goes in on the right side of fabric then out on the wrong side, then in on right side again and out on wrong side over and over. This pulls that edge down and looks much neater. I used a double thickness of dental floss for thread to prevent breakage. Place your stem inside the gathered hole and pull tight and tie off. Did not even have to glue it. I used stretch velvet and dried beans1/3 then fiberfill. Looks just like the really expensive velvet pumpkins out there. Thanks!
What do you glue the stems on with? I use E6000 glue but really want to try something else.
Thanks!
I use hot glue–fast and cheap!
Hi Trina,
Thank you for such a great tutorial! I’ve made about 70 of these on my own and have always struggled to get that middle indent. If you are putting stitches straight through the center to the bottom of the pumpkin, will that stitch then show on the bottom?
Thanks, Margaret
you’ll see it, but you can make it pretty small. 😉
Thank you so much for this wonderful tutorial! great photos to accompany great, easy to follow instructions. What do you find to be the best glue product to attach the stem?
Thanks so much for sharing!
Joan, I use a hot glue gun! Your welcome!
HI! I’ve just discovered this blog and am so excited to try making a pumpkin. Do you have anything that will tell if you cut a certain size circle what size pumpkin you will end up with?
Thank you:)
Nope, sorry, Terrie–I suggest starting small and working up!
A plate to trace has been mentioned in other tutorials.
Hello
Cute pumpkins,
I made 4 at Thanksgiving and loved them,
just went to town dump and got all the stems from the pumpkins I could, at least the deer are not eating them!
My pumpkins were blue and I added a sparkly pin to them too.
I am going to try your idea , thank you !
I also didn’t use the rice or beans or plastic pellets. So thanks again.
Susie
Wonderful!!! Thanks.
Love the tutorial! Going to give it a try. Thanks
Love them does anyone have chart for circle circumference and pumpkin end result they are willing to share. Aka. A 13 inch circle makes a 6 inch across pumpkin. Thanks
Love it
Pumpkins are beautiful!
Trina,
Thank you so much for the fantastic tutorial. I saw the velvet pumpkins at a gift store near me for $56 for an 8″ pumpkin. I knew I could make them myself and your tutorial helped so much (fiberfill and rice). Thanks again for passing on your final hint.
Bobbie
You’re so welcome, Bobbie! Enjoy your pumpkins!!!
Love this tutorial! The velvet that you used, was it stretch or velveteen? I can’t tell if stretch will work. Thanks for your reply!
Chrissy, you could probably make stretch work, but I would recommend a non-stretchy material if you have a choice. The weight and pressure of the stuffing is going to make keeping the pumpkin’s shape difficult if your fabric is stretchy.
Thank you so much for this…why do you part fill the pumpkin with beans and top up with fibrefill ?..and not totally fill with one or the other?
:))
all beans=too heavy
all fluff= too light 😉
Hi- I just found you through Mary @ Sweetwater Style. Love your blog – I am your newest subscriber. I really need to make some of these velvet pumpkins. Thanks for the tutorial- Diana
Hi, Nana! So glad to have you here! Thanks for subscribing!
Hi Trina, super cute pumpkins. Thank you for sharing your secrets. I’ve been sitting here trying to make my own (we have a church dinner in November, thought these would be great center pieces) but I can’t seem to get the same amazing folds you show. Any other secret hints you want to pass along?
So pretty! I think I am going to make some with the boys next week to add to our autumn nature table in the school room. Thanks for sharing!