Making pumpkin wreath using fabrics scraps using

The autumn season brings fun and exciting celebrations such as Halloween and Thanksgiving. We are overwhelmed to decorate the house with many types of decoration to echo the fall season’s excitement. Try this pumpkin wreath decoration minus the real pumpkin. Yes it is! Because the pumpkin will be made by using fabrics and scraps that you can find in your house. Don’t worry if you don’t have enough scraps of fabrics. You can buy them in any craft store, thrift store or ask your family members if they have fabric scraps to give away. Although it takes a bit of time, the final product will impress everyone who watches it. You can also keep this pumpkin wreath in a closed box after the fall and reuse again for the next year, now that saves your money as well! So here are the steps on how to make the pumpkin wreath;

Materials and tools you need:
Plain undecorated wreath (you can buy at craft or thrift store, just take off the ornaments if the wreath is decorated), fabrics scraps, leaves template, clear fabrics glue, hot glue gun, orange colored fabrics, needle and thread, cotton, small tree branches or twigs, floral wire, floral tape, pencil, fine tip scissors or fabric scissors, ribbon.

Making it:
First, to make the leaves, take two pieces of same fabric scraps and stick them together by using fabric glue or craft glue and leave them to dry. After the fabrics is dry, make trace of leaves using leaves template or you can also free-hand drawing yourself. Another way is by using die cuts which you can find in many craft stores. Cut the leaves’ motives by using fine tip scissors or fabric scissors. To make the leaves that curls abet, spread some glue in front of the leaves’ side and put them them between glasses or heavy books to dry. When the fabrics leaves dry, the edges will curl. It depends on your creation on how much you want the amount of curly leaves to your pumpkin wreath.

When all the fabrics leaves are ready, start arranging them around the wreath base by using hot glue gun. After finishing, leave the wreath to dry.

Next, to make the pumpkin, it’s easy and no perfection is needed to make it more rustic and crafty. Make a cut out of a rectangle with a piece of orange colored fabric. The size will vary, depending on how big or small you want for the pumpkins. Tall and skinny rectangle will create small and skinny pumpkins and vice versa.

Sew the sides seams together with the right side of the fabrics together. You can sew the seams by using needle and thread or the sew machine. it will look like a small pillow wrapper with both ends still open. Then, make a running stitch around the bottom edge of the rectangle using needle and thread while let the wrong sides out. Gather the sewn bottom edge up tight and secure with another thread sewn on it. You can make the bottom edge even more secure by running them along the presser foot of your sewing machine.

Next, turn the rectangle piece inside out. Fill ¾ of the rectangle sack with cotton. Then, do a running stitch around the top of the fabric and pull it tight by using needle and thread. Make a few stitches back and forth from one side to the other side to hold it together.

Then, push your needle down through the center and then out the bottom of the pumpkin and pull it tight. After that, go to the opposite direction and once more do the same process. Tie off your thread at the bottom. By doing this, an indent will be created in the center of your pumpkin.

Cut small pieces of small tree branches or twigs to make the pumpkin’s stem. To make the pumpkin’s stem, glue the stem cut in the center of the pumpkin’s indent. To make the curly vines, wrap the floral wire with floral tape. The length of the floral wire depends on how long you want the curly vines of your pumpkins to be. After wrapping the floral wire with the tape, wrap the wire around a pencil or pen to make it curly. Attach the curly vine in place around the stem by using hot glue. Let your pumpkin to dry to make sure all the attachments are glued perfectly.

Finally, attach your pumpkins to the wreath. The amount depends on how big your wreath is, avoid the temptation to put so many because it will result to tackier look. Decorate your pumpkin wreath with ribbon on top as well for the hanging. You can hang this beautiful wreath in front of your door house or the walls of your house.

Additional Reading:
http://smallfryandco.blogspot.com/2009/09/fall-wreath-tutorial.html

Image Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmajane/118366257/