Would you believe we had our first snowfall yesterday? It melted as soon as it hit the ground BUT dang, it's only September. I'm keeping my finger's crossed this isn't a sign that we're headed for a long winter. Bundled in a sweater with the furnace running, my thoughts went to hot apple cider and decorating for Fall.

Are you like me and have a bin full of fabric leftover from former projects? Those scraps can be turned into the cutest pumpkins. Today I'm showing you how using remanents from an old red ticking stripe slipcover along with how to repurpose vintage kitchen cabinet knobs for the stems.

Decorating a tray for Fall using Fabric Pumpkins with Kitchen Cabinet Knob Stems.

If you're a visual person I've included a video tutorial below...

Video Tutorial

Fabric Pumpkins With Cabinet Knob Stems

Full Tutorial

The steps for sewing the pumpkins are pretty much the same as my Sweater Pumpkins. Except with these, I used faux leaf picks and an old slipcover removed from our Chalk Painted Wing Chair. If you can sew a straight line, you can definitely make these pumpkins.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links so you can see what products I used or recommend to complete this project. What that means is that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive a small portion of any sales at no additional cost to you to support the costs of running this site. See my disclosure policy page.

Supplies:

Red Ticking Stripe Fabric or fabric of your choice

Matching All Purpose Thread

Cotton Batting

Twine

White Ceramic Kitchen Cabinet Knobs or knobs of your choice

Artificial Fern Picks

8-inch Upholstery Needle

Mod Podge or White Glue

Hot Glue Gun

Awl

Step 1: Cut fabric

The trick to measuring your fabric is to divide the width in half to get the height. I recommend making the pumpkins in multiple sizes, mine are in three as follows:

Large: 20-inches wide x 10-inches tall

Medium: 16-inches wide x 8-inches tall

Small: 12-inches wide by 6-inches tall

Step 2: Sew side seam

• Fold fabric with the short sides together (pictured above).
• Sew the side seams together. I used the elastic stitch setting on my sewing machine, mimics a serged seam to help prevent the fabric from fraying.
• If you don't have a sewing machine you could hand stitch the seam.

Step 3: Sew bottom seam

• Sew the bottom seam using a basting stitch (largest stitch setting) and leave long threads on either end.
• Gently pull on the top strand of thread to gather the fabric (pictured above).
• Repeat by pulling the top strand of thread on the opposite side (pictured below).
• Tie the ends to secure the gathers.

Option B: Gather the fabric in your hand and tie it off with an elastic band.

Turn the pumpkin right side out (pictured below).

Step 4: Fill pumpkins

Fill pumpkin with cotton batting up to approximately 1-1½ inches from the top (pictured above).

Step 5: Sew top seam

• With a needle and all-purpose thread, hand stitch the top closed (pictured above) and gather the fabric the same way as in Step 3.
• Draw the points together into the center and stitch in place (pictured below).

Step 6: Twine ribs and tendrils

Cut twine the following lengths per size of pumpkin:

Large: 90-inches

Medium: 80-inches

Small: 70-inches

Tip 1: Be cautious when pushing the needle through so it doesn't poke your hand. 

Tip 2: Avoid this step if you have a feline family member nearby. Unless you want to get distracted by the playful kitty and completely forget about Tip #1. Ask me how I know.

• With an 8-inch upholstery needle, thread a strand of twine through the top of the pumpkin and out the center of the bottom. You may want to use a thimble to help push the needle through the bulk of the pumpkin. 
• Leave a long strand at the top for the first tendril.
• Holding the tendril in place with your thumb, pull the thread over the pumpkin and insert the needle into the top center and back through the base. 
• Wrap it over the opposite side of the pumpkin and pull taut to form the first two ribs and tie in a knot to hold in place.
• Repeat the last two steps until you have eight ribs and tie in a knot to secure.
• There should be two strands of twine at the top of the pumpkin for tendrils (pictured below).

Step 7: Cabinet knob stems

• Using an Awl, poke a hole through the top and down to the bottom of the pumpkin and move the Awl in a back and forth motion to create a large enough hole (pictured above). Be careful during this step because the tip of that Awl is very sharp when it pops through the bottom. Ask me how I know.
• Squish the pumpkin as tight as you can and from the bottom of the pumpkin, pull the cabinet knob screw through the hole created by the Awl and out the top of the pumpkin (pictured below). I'm not going to lie, lining up the screw can get a bit frustrating but be patient.
• Twist the knob onto the screw and hand tighten to secure. You may need to use a screwdriver to tighten the knob completely. 

Step 8: Adding leaves

I save everything and had quite the collection of faux greens in a large plastic tote. I found several faux fern leaf picks (pictured above) that I believe have been in my stash for over 20 years.

I removed the stems from the pick and simply hot glued them in place under the cabinet knobs (pictured below).

Step 9: Curling the tendrils

Use foil to protect the pumpkins during this next step. Don't they remind you of a group of ladies with hair strands poking through their highlighting caps at the salon?

This is when your grown children's labeled school markers that you've kept all these years come in handy.

• Pour white glue or Mod Podge into a plastic container.
• Dip your fingers into the glue and rub it all over the twine tendrils.
• Wrap the twine around the markers and leave them to dry for no more than an hour.
• Carefully slide the markers off the tendrils and let completely dry while still curled.
• Once dry, loosen the tendril curls to your liking.

I'm so glad to have put more of the remanents from our red ticking stripe slipcover to good use and just love these cute little fabric pumpkins. 

There may appear to be a lot of steps to make these but this entire pumpkin patch can be made in a day.

While my red ticking stripe pumpkins have a Farmhouse look, you can create glamourous ones by using velvet and pretty glass or beaded knobs. Or warm and cozy pumpkins with sweaters and wooden knobs. What about whimsical ones with bold colors and patterns and metal knobs. The possibilities are endless.

Last Fall I made similar pumpkins with an old sweater and leftover fabric from our Queen Anne Armchairs Makeover You can find them here in my post Sweater Pumpkins With Cabinet Knob Stems.

Can you tell I love decorating with pumpkins in the Fall. The year before I made Burlap Pumpkins, Chalk Painted Pumpkins, and Metallic Pumpkins. You can find them here in my post DIY Pumpkin Patch.

Have you ever made fabric pumpkins? I'd love to hear how you made yours in the comment section below.

If you found this Fabric Pumpkin tutorial helpful, please share it with a friend or save it on Pinterest.

You will find this project shared at these fabulous LINK PARTIES.