Friday, September 01, 2006

Primitive Pumpkin

Since it is officially September, I can start bringing out all things Fall related! As I've mentioned, I really love and enjoy this time of year! And I usually get out my Fall decorations on Labor Day - so will plan to do that Monday.

I got the inspiration for this little pillow from the Better homes and Gardens Creative Collection Holiday Crafts 2005 magazine - their pillow is much bigger and has five pumpkins on it in varying patterns. But, I just wanted to make little ones - so this is what I came up with.

I had a hard time finding the colors of felt I was looking for - so the pumpkin is actually made out of fleece with interfacing ironed on the back for extra strength. The brown (stem) and green are felt.

So - do you like it? Do you want to make one now? Here's how:

Cut a round pumpkin from orange felt (or fleece as mentioned above).
Cut a star from another orange or gold felt (or fleece).
Stitch the star onto the pumpkin using the Buttonhole Stitch (I think I do mine a bit differently - so I thought I'd provide a link to the "proper" way of doing it, though it has the same results).

Here are some close-ups of how to do this stitch:


After you have stitched the star to the pumpkin, cut out a stem from brown felt. Pin the pumpkin and stem to the green background fabric. Cut around the edges of the pillow with pinking shears - I just pinned the pumpkin and stem on and then cut the edges free-hand, so each pillow may be a little different size.

Stitch the stem onto the front of the pillow, then stitch around the pumpkin. Place desired amount of filling between the two layers of green felt and pin around the edges. Top stitch with black thread (or whatever you used for the pumpkin and star) around the edges of the pillow, leaving the pinking sheared edges as trim.

Place in a chair, on a shelf or mantle, or even in a basket to bring a whimsical touch of Fall to a little part of your home!

Enjoy!

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