Fabric Pumpkin Craft

Yesterday my mom and I went over to a friends house and they showed us how to make these really cute fabric pumpkins! :-) They are relatively easy to make and we were so pleased with the end result.
To begin, cut out a circle of fabric. You can use a pizza pan as a pattern for a larger pumpkin or perhaps a plate for a smaller pumpkin. Next you take take 6 strans of embroidery thread and a needle and start to run a gathering stitch about an 1/8 to a 1/4 of an inch from the edge of the fabric. You won't need to tie a knot at the end of this thread, but you should leave a portion out to use later when gathering. After stitching all the way around the edge, gently pull the thread to gather the fabric up a bit and then put stuffing inside the opening. You'll want to put in enough so that the sides of the pumpkin will stand out nicely. Now, carefully pull the threads again until only a small hole remains. It might be helpful for another person to smash down the cotton as your doing this to prevent the thread from breaking. If it does break, don't worry! Just try to find where the thread broke, thread your needle and go at it again! (This happened to me once. :-) ) Once it's all gathered up into a ball, tie a knot in the thread (twice) and then wrap the remaining thread around the pumpkin like you would a package. Pull the thread to the bottom of the pumpkin, (turn the pumpkin over) twist the threads and bring them back up to the top dividing the pumpkin into 1/4 's. Continue doing this until the pumpkin is divided into 1/8's. Now tie the threads off and trim off the excess thread. Now you can add decorative leaves, a small (real) stick, and or a pretty bow made out of ribbon or even a curled up wire or small ribbon (applied with hot glue) to add a finishing touch. This project is so fun and easy to make and I hope you'll be able to try it!

Praise the Lord of the Harvest!

~Chloe~