Make a Glam Velvet Pumpkin

It’s official: The season of pumpkin proliferation is upon us. From the gigantic gourds that decorate doorsteps up and down the block, to the portable plastic jack-o’-lanterns waiting to fulfill their candy-collecting destiny on Halloween night, to everyone’s favorite latte spice—all the usual suspects have arrived. But this year, there’s a new addition to the pumpkin patch, and it’s introducing some seriously sophisticated fall decor vibes. Say hello to velvet pumpkins, crafted from swaths of luxe fabric and topped off with natural stems. The best part? You can whip up a whole batch of these beauties in less time than it takes to make a pie.

Ready to get started? Read on.

At a glance

Time: 30 minutes

Difficulty: Beginner

Materials:

• Velvet fabric in the colors of your choice
• Fabric scissors
• Sewing needle and thread
• Cotton stuffing
• Gourd or pumpkin stem
• Hot glue gun

Step 1: Cut fabric circle

Use fabric scissors to cut out a circle of velvet fabric in the color of your choice. You can trace something round (like a plate) if you’d like, but the shape doesn’t have to be perfect. When determining the size of your circle, keep in mind that the finished pumpkin will be smaller than the circle’s diameter.

Step 2: Stitch around the circle’s edge

Thread a sewing needle with a length of thread and knot the end. Use a simple running stitch to sew large, loose stitches around the edge of the fabric until you’ve come back to your starting point.

Step 3: Pull thread to cinch

Once you’ve sewn your way around the circle, gently pull the thread to cinch the edges toward the center. Use your fingers to help gather the fabric together until it resembles a shower cap.

Step 4: Fill with stuffing

Fill the fabric bowl with cotton stuffing. Pack in as much stuffing as possible to create a firm pumpkin, but not so much that you can’t close the fabric opening.

Step 5: Tighten and tie

Pull the thread tight to close the pumpkin’s opening, tucking any stray stuffing inside the bowl. Tie a double knot and cut off the extra thread.

Step 6: Glue on stem

Use a hot glue gun to affix a stem to the top of the pumpkin, concealing the knot.

Now that you’ve completed one pumpkin, you can repeat using different colors of velvet until you’ve created the luxe pumpkin patch of your dreams.

Shop fall decor

Photographs courtesy of Steph Hung.