Here’s a very easy fall craft to make with your kids to bring that cozy autumn feeling into your home. I don’t get too fussy about crafts—just use whatever you have on hand and have fun together! Then stand back and admire your cleverness—that’s the joy of crafts.
Easy Cloth Pumpkins
1. Cut orange fabric into rectangles. I don’t measure—just “guesstimate”. To make a tall pumpkin, cut the fabric approximately 10″ high by 18″ wide. A big short pumpkin takes a piece of fabric about 14″ high by 30″ wide . Little pumpkins need about 6″ high by 14″ wide. These figures are just to give you an idea, but you can make them any random size you wish. It’s sort of fun to just cut and see how it turns out!
2. Fold the fabric in half, right sides together, and sew across the bottom and up the side. Just like you are making a pillowcase. Don’t sew the top closed!
3. Gather the bottom (sewn) edge with a needle and thread, pulling it tightly and securing. Or just gather it back and forth with your fingers like you’d fold a paper fan, then secure by zigzagging over the end. This does not have to be exact. The idea is just to scrunch up the bottom edge and secure it.
4. Turn the “pillowcase” shape inside out.
5. Pour about 1-2 cups of rice, beans, acorns, pebbles, chestnuts (or whatever you have on hand or can gather in your yard) into the bottom to weight it down and make it stand up nicely.
6. Add fluffy batting, stuffing your pumpkin full.
7. Using a long gathering stitch, hand stitch around the upper opening, cinching it tightly closed. Stitch and knot to secure.
8. Set pumpkin on a long piece of twine, yarn or string, and tie it up like you would a package, crossing the twine on top and bottom. Knot firmly on the top. Leave a length of twine to look like a tendril. Arrange the twine so it creates sections, like a pumpkin.
9. Using a glue gun, top the pumpkin with a piece of branch, corn stalk or whatever other natural “stem” you can find in your yard, along with artificial leaves (get them at the dollar store). Tuck the knotted twine ends under the stem when you glue on your pumpkin stem.
That’s it! Easy, and adds a festive look for the harvest season!
My daughters: Louisa, Emily, Julianna
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My daughter and I made these the year you first posted them. She was ten years old then and they were an easy, fun project to do together. We have had them out every year since. Right now they are in our dining room/homeschool room along with a green gourd from the garden and a basket of fall leaves.
I was just thinking about you and thought I’d say “Hi!” Thanks for being who you are.
Hi Diane,
These are adorable! (the pumpkins, too, ha!)