I just love the look of those soft, plush velvet pumpkins as autumn decor.  They just look so scrumptious sitting in a pile as a centerpiece on your table or hanging out around your mantle.  But I just hate how expensive they are at stores!

Velvet is a more expensive fabric, especially if it is hand dyed silk velvet.  But honestly, I knew it had to be cheaper to make my own if I could find a good deal on some basic velvet online or a remnant in my local Joann's.  I don't have to have the hand dyed silk velvet, though I'm sure it's really lovely and soft.


In anticipation of making my own velvet pumpkins, we went to our local pumpkin farm last October and purchased pumpkins with some lovely stems  We even picked up a few extra stems we found laying on the ground.  Once we were done using the pumpkins for the season, I carefully removed the stems and placed them in a large box for drying out fully. For tips on how to preserve your pumpkin stems, check out this blog post from Celebrate Creativity.

This box of stems has been sitting in my basement storage area for almost a year now and I have been itching to try and make my own velvet pumpkins.  Since October, I've been searching the remnant section at Joann's for velvet every time I went to the store.  It wasn't until late July when my mom finally came across a half yard remnant of black velvet!


I didn't care if it was July! I was ready to make some velvet pumpkins!  So I started out making three pumpkins...and I got addicted...so I made several more...and then I made a velvet mushroom and that is when I finally ran out of the black velvet.

They all turned out so cute--I wanted to make more!  After researching online, my mom and I finally found some cheap velvet on Amazon to purchase (from here and here).  That's how we got to doing this tutorial. Now that I have a few velvet pumpkins under my belt, so to speak, I feel confident in sharing my tips on how to DIY your own velvet pumpkins.  To prove just how easy they are, I invited my sister, Caitlin, along for the tutorial process.  She doesn't do many of her own crafty DIYs, so if she can do it, you can too!

Watch this video below posted on our YouTube and read the directions below to make your own velvet pumpkins!


What You'll Need

• Velvet
• Chalk or marker
• Various sizes of circles to trace
• Scissors
• Strong thread or embroidery floss in coordinating colors
• Needle
• Dried beans or rice
• Polyester stuffing, such as Poly-fil
• Dried pumpkin stems, twigs or drift wood
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks or E6000 glue
• Beads, feathers or Swarovski Hotfix crystals (optional)

How To Make Velvet Pumpkins

Start by laying your velvet out upside down on your work surface.  Use a bowl and chalk to trace a circle on the backside of your velvet then use your scissors to cut it out.  You don't need to be perfect in this step, any imperfections in tracing or cutting won't show in the finished product.  Tip:  Whatever size circle you cut out, your pumpkin will roughly be about half the diameter when finished.


Cut off a long length of thread (or embroidery floss), double your thread and knot it off.  Sew a loose stitch around the outside edge of the circle.  Do not backstitch as you will use this to gather your velvet so you can stuff it.  Once you have gone around the circle of fabric, loosely gather your fabric.



Add some dried rice or beans to the bottom of your pumpkin to give it some weight then add the stuffing until achieve the look that you want (there is no right or wrong way, but I prefer a fully stuffed pumpkin, myself).



Pull your gather thread tight to close off the opening and do some cross stitching to keep the opening closed.  Don't worry about neatness too much as this will be covered by the pumpkin stem.  Close off the thread a few times but do not cut the thread yet!



Using your thumb and forefinger, squish the pumpkin together to find the center on the bottom and top of the pumpkin.  Using your needle and thread, insert your needle into the center of the pumpkin, going from top to bottom.  Then do the same, going from bottom to top.  Do this a few times, pulling the thread tight, creating a nice dimple in the bottom of the pumpkin.  (Careful, don't lose your needle inside your pumpkin!) Tie off your thread a few times and cut off the excess.



If you want to add a little bling to your pumpkin, use Swarovski Hotfix crystals or sew on some beads.  You can do this after attaching the stem, but I find it easier to add these before the stem.


Using a hot glue gun (or if you have kids that will play with them, use E6000 glue for a super strong hold), add a small amount of glue to the bottom of your dried stem or twig and press it down into the center of the pumpkin.  To fluff your pumpkin back up a bit, push the sides of your pumpkin a little.  Tip:  Check out this blog post by Celebrate Creativity to learn how to dry and preserve your own pumpkin stems.