Creative articles about sewing

Sew A Decorative Stitched Pumpkin

Happy Fall!

I just thought I would share with readers a very fun & easy way to Sew A Decorative Stitched Pumpkin to add to your repertoire of fall decor. This DIY pumpkin sewing project is suitable for all experience levels of sewists. 

Pumpkin made with fabric, felt & decorative stitches

Pumpkin Made With a Circular Attachment & Decorative Stitches

In Canada, we are right in the middle of pumpkin harvesting season and of course pumpkins are always a big part of our fall decor.  It seemed fitting to dream up a sewing project to depict this gorgeous fruit.  Yes some would debate it’s a vegetable, however in Canada we do use it in both sweet and savoury dishes. As an easy DIY pumpkin sewing project, this decorative stitched pumpkin is sweet!

Pumpkins in a field orange fall fruit, we can sew our own decorative stitched pumpkins

                                                                   Pumpkins field, ready to harvest

Go ahead and gather up some gorgeous orange cotton, some shades of green felt and a twig or cork and let’s get started on our easy diy pumpkin sewing project.

Supplies needed for the decorative stitched pumpkin:

  • orange cotton fabric 12”square
  • light paper backed fusible stabilizer or wash away that does not add bulk to the circle (used was soft web -fusible web from OESD, 12”square)
  • circle tool to draw a 12” circle ( used was a wreath wire)
  • Wash out blue marker
  • BERNINA Circular embroidery attachment # 83 
  •  BERNINA 350 PE
  • 6 small scraps of green felt  approximately 4” square
  • pattern for pumpkin leaf , download for free hereLeaf template
  • polyester fibre fill for stuffing
  • a twig or wine cork for the stem
  • glue gun & glue stick
  • orange thread and hand sewing needle
  • decorative embroidery weight threads
  • embroidery needle for machines size 80 recommended
  • bobbin weight thread to match embroidery thread
Image of BERNINA 350 PE.

BERNINA 350 PE

The BERNINA 350 PE – wide range of functions, ultimate ease in handling: BERNINA’s young model for ambitious beginners.

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Image of Circular embroidery attachment # 83.

Circular embroidery attachment # 83

Circular embroidery attachment #83 lets you embroider unusual and decorative circles or semicircles. 

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Supplies needed to sew a decorative stitched pumpkin Green felt, glue gun, embroidery thread, bobbin thread, embroidery needle , circular attachment, blue wash out pen OESD stabilizer roll , orange fabric ,cork,

                                                                    Supplies  Needed

How to Sew The Decorative Stitched Pumpkin:

  1. Draw out the circle on the right side of the orange fabric with a wash out marker. Cut this out and attach the stabilizer on the wrong side.
  2. Install the circular attachment on the sewing machine following the package instructions. Alternatively, you can watch the video below:

   3. Insert a Bernina Reverse Pattern Foot #1, #1C or #1D or  Open Embroidery Foot #20. 

Image of Open Embroidery Foot #20.

Open Embroidery Foot #20

Perfect for sewing decorative stitches ✓   Creation of attractive appliqué designs ✓  Allows lines and patterns to be followed precisely ✓   An open form for a clear view of the project ✓  For 5.5 mm and 9 mm machines ✓ 

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   4. Thread the machine with orange thread.

   5. Insert an embroidery needle.

   6. Fold the circle to find the center and mark the center with the wash out pen.

   7. Attach the circle of fabric to the circular attachment as shown and make sure the stopper is on the positioning pin.  This stops the fabric from coming off the pin.

   8. Push the pin to the far left as far as it can go and stitch with a straight stitch the outside perimeter of the pumpkin fabric. This will help to hold the fabric to the stabilizer.

   9. Choose decorative stitches, move the positioning pin and stopper back to the middle and stitch rows of decorative stitches at intervals as shown below.  Each Bernina machine has different decorative stitches so have fun trying them out with various colours of embroidery thread, think of fall colours.

Bernina 350 with the circle attachment on orange fabric

              Adding decorative stitches to orange fabric with the circular attachment #83

  
   10.  Once all the decorative stitching is done, remove the fabric from the circular attachment. Using orange thread and a hand sewing needle double threaded, gather the top of the pumpkin 1/4” from the edge and stuff until fairly full with polyester fibre fill. Tie off to secure, leaving space for the twig stem.

   11. Using the hot glue gun, glue the twig into the space at the top of the pumpkin.

. Sewing the leaves:

  1.   Download the free pattern for pumpkin leaves here  and stack 2 layers of felt. Cut the leaf pattern out 3 times on the stacked fabric using 2-3 different colours of green felt. Note: if you don’t have felt you could use stabilized cotton or woven material.
  2.  Stitch veins as shown:
Decorative stitched Details showing on green felt leaves on top of the decorative stitched pumpkin

                        Decorative stitches stitched on 2 layers of felt to depict veining on leaves 

   3.  Glue the decorative stitched leaves to the top of the pumpkin.

Admire your efforts and sew more DIY pumpkin decor , you could also make smaller ones in various shades of orange. The more the merrier. I think a whole pumpkin patch would be fun! Want to see more projects with the circular attachment ? Head on over to one of my previous articles Here

Enjoy the bounty of fall 🍂 🍁 

Free sewing instructions: Stitched Pumpkin

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