Thursday, July 19, 2012

Pumpkin Contest



It's HOT! and getting hotter so it's time to start thinking about fall. I am thinking about a contest of sorts with pumpkins. Fabric pumpkins.





Rules:



Make 1 or more fabric pumpkins using the directions below out of fabric, wool, felt or batting(painted).




Finish them any way you like, using cinnamon sticks, grapevine, moss, real leaves, whatever.




They can be aged or even spray painted! Lets see how creative you can be.



Take a picture and send them to me in an email at PGPeddler@aol.com with your name and mailing address included, just in case you win!




I'll post pictures in September for everyone to vote on so start soon.



Winning areas are Best Pumpkins and Clever Finishing.




The winner (s) will receive a bundle of my new fall fabric. I know everyone is busy so if I get no entries, I'll do a drawing for the fabric anyway!





I'll repeat the directions again for them below.



1. Cut a rectangle from batting, say 9" x 18" wide. Too big? try 6" x 14".




2. Fold in half and sew the two short ends together, one seam in the back.



3. Hand-gather one open end with string, floss, pearl cotton or linen thread, pull tight and knot several times.




4. Turn inside out and stuff with poly-fil until firm, but not too firm.



5. Hand-gather the top and knot several times.



6. Using a long doll needle ( say 8") and a long piece of the thread you used in #3, go in and out from the center top to the center bottom to pull the center in tight. Knot again.




7. Then proceed to go top to bottom around the outside of the pumpkin to create the veins, pulling tight each time.




8. Knot the thread each time on the center top which will be covered by the stem later.




9. Mix orange paint with water, coffee or tea and slop it on using your hands (pre-manicure not post). It washes off your hands eventually and I would remove your rings first!







*** Using coffee or tea makes the colors separate once dried and gives a wonderful aged look.







Make different sized pumpkins from cotton batting, muslin, or chenille and paint each one a different shade of orange. Mix colors- it's fun!My husband went int the woods and cut old knarly grapevine for me to use as stems. He cut them about 2"-3" and I hot glued them to the center top, covering the knots.It makes a wonderful fall decoration and costs so little for so many, a small package of batting, a bottle of paint, some stuffing.

1 comment:

  1. sounds like a fun project. I will try and squeeze it in.

    ReplyDelete