How to Make Fabric Pumpkins for Fall from Recycled Clothes

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Learn how to make fabric pumpkins out of old, recycled clothes or fabric scraps in this step-by-step photo tutorial! They’re perfect for your fall home decor!

Fall decor doesn’t have to be spooky, creepy, or like it’s out of a horror movie.

Pumpkins are a staple of fall decorations – for both Halloween and Thanksgiving – and there’s not much cuter than a fabric pumpkin!

We’re going to take a look at how to make fabric pumpkins out of any type of fabric (new or old), as well as how to use old clothes to recycle into darling fabric pumpkins you can’t wait to display year after year!

Let’s see how to make them!

How to Make Fabric Pumpkins

Step 1: Gather Supplies

Supplies Needed:

Fabric or Old Clothes
Scissors
Sewing Machine (or a needle and thread would work too.)
Embroidery Needle
Embroidery Thread
Poly Fill
Wooden Branch
Garden Clipper
Hot Glue Gun and Glue

Step 2: Cut fabric into a rectangle.

This is 12″x7″.

You can experiment with different-sized rectangles.

The longer the length of the fabric, the bigger diameter your pumpkin will have.

The taller the height of your fabric rectangle, the taller your fabric pumpkin will be.

Step 3: Fold in half, so the right sides are together.

We took the left 7″ edge and brought it over to the right 7″ edge.

Step 4: Sew a vertical line along the raw edges.

See the white-thread seam along the right vertical edge.

You now have an inside-out tube.

Step 5: Gather the bottom edge of the tube together like an accordion.

Sew along the bottom of the accordion.

Turn right side out.

This is the bottom of your pumpkin.

Step 6: Fill up with polyfill or other stuffing of choice.

Step 7: Close up the top with an embroidery needle and embroidery thread. (Use a coordinating color of thread.)

First, you want to close up the top of the pumpkin.

You can do this by stitching a loose running stitch around the outer edge and pulling the strings to cinch it down like we talked about in this post here.

Or, you can gather two sides together, then the two opposite ones, and continue bringing folds of the fabric together toward the middle until you’ve secured them all, as is pictured below.

Use whatever method you need to, in order to close up the top of your pumpkin.

Pull tight so the top is secure. Do NOT tie off your embroidery floss.

Step 8. Wrap the needle and embroidery floss around the side of the pumpkin to create one indented section.

Take the needle and floss, and wrap it around the outside of the pumpkin.

Push the needle up from the bottom of the pumpkin, through it, and out the top. (You might need to flatten the pumpkin as you do this, depending on how long of a needle you are using.)

Pull the needle out the top of the pumpkin, and pull all the slack of embroidery floss out.

As you pull it tight, the embroidery floss will tighten and create an indented section along the outside of the pumpkin.

This is what turns a fabric ball into a fabric pumpkin!

Step 9: Repeat this process to create 5 more (6 total) evenly spaced indented sections around the pumpkin.

Go around to the bottom and push the needle and floss up through the top of the pumpkin again, this time directly opposite where you did the first one.

Then repeat until you have divided the pumpkin into 6 evenly spaced sections.

Once you have completed all 6 sections, you can secure the embroidery floss!

Tie a knot in the embroidery floss and clip loose ends.

You have completed the fabric portion of your pumpkin!

Use Recycled Old Clothing to Make Fabric Pumpkins

Before we finish the pumpkin with a wooden branch stem, let’s take a look at how to use this exact same process with old clothing to make upcycled fabric pumpkins.

This is a great way to use worn-out clothing, cute clothes you find at a thrift store, or creatively preserve special items of clothing like your kids’ old favorites!

How to Make a Fabric Pumpkin from a Shirt Sleeve

Cut a fabric tube from the sleeve.

Turn it inside out.

Gather the bottom into an accordion.

Sew along the accordion to secure the bottom.

Flip right side out.

Stuff with poly fill.

Close up the top of the pumpkin.

Go from top around to bottom, and back up through the pumpkin’s center to the top again with the needle and floss, to create 6 evenly spaced indented sections.

Tie off, clip ends, and your fabric pumpkin body is done!

How to Make a Fabric Pumpkin from Old Socks

Cut a fabric tube from an old sock.

Turn the fabric tube inside out.

Fold the bottom into an accordion shape.

Sew along the bottom edge of the accordion.

Turn right side out.

Fill with your stuffing of choice.

Close up the top of the pumpkin.

Wrap the needle and floss around the outside of the pumpkin, to the bottom, and up through the middle to the top, to create 6 evenly spaced indented sections of the pumpkin.