Fabric Pumpkin Tutorial

Turn an oatmeal box, baby wipe container, corn meal box or any other cylindrical container into a fabric covered pretty ribbon container. Covering the container with a fun fabric could easily turn this into the perfect handmade gift for the crafty friends in your life. To see the step by step instructions and photographs, read on....

http://www.curbly.com/users/modhomeecteacher/posts/5735-upcycle-turn-an-oatmeal-box-into-a-pretty-ribbon-holder#jump

Fabric Pumpkin Tutorial

Supplies:

Fabric pieces – variety of sizes

2 pieces of brown felt

1 piece tan felt

Fiberfill or other stuffing material

Brown embroidery floss

Thick twine

Hand-sewing needle

Sewing Machine

Decorative wire berries (optional)

Directions:

Gather your fabric. I found these upholstery fabric samples at Joann’s for $2.00 a piece. They were discontinued special order fabrics. I decided to use decorator fabric because I love the variation in textures and designs, but you could definitely used quilting cotton for this project if you would prefer.

Cut your fabric. I wanted my pumpkins to be all different sizes since no two pumpkins are ever the same. Here are some of the measurements I used:

17.5″ x 10″

17.5″ x 12″

12″ x 6″

12.5″ x 7.5″

17″ x 13″

Basically you are looking to cut out a rectangle shape.

Fold your rectangle, right-sides together. Stitch down the long-side (side to the right) with a regular straight-stitch. Then run a gathering stitch around the top and the bottom (leaving the top and bottom OPEN). Turn right-side out.

Pull the bobbin thread to start gathering one of the ends. Work the gather until you have pulled it as closed as possible. If you are using regular cotton this will be much easier. If you are using decorator fabrics, this can take some time. You may also consider hand-sewing a large straight stitch with embroidery floss and using that to gather instead of your machine (my thread broke on one of my pumpkins). Either way will work.

This is as tight as I could pull my bobbin thread with the upholstery fabric. Tie your thread ends together and turn it in-side out again.

Place the gathered end in your sewing machine and stitch to close. You will have to kind of jam the fabric under the foot as it is very thick, but don’t worry, your machine can handle it. You may also choose to hand-sew the opening closed with embroidery floss.

Next fill your pumpkin with fiberfill or whatever type of stuffing you have on hand.

Once you have stuffed your pumpkin, pull the bobbin thread from your other gathering stitch to begin to close the opening.

Close the opening entirely by hand-sewing.

Take your twine and wrap it around the pumpkin (very tightly). Do this as if you were wrapping a present. Loop it around, then cross-over, around and cross-over. You will cross-over at the top and bottom of the pumpkin. Go back and forth until you have 6-8 sections on each pumpkin. Finish by simply tying in a knot.

You may need to slide the twine around until you have even look sections – just work it until you like the look.

Next you will need to make your stems and leaves. I made each stem a different size, so just cut out whatever shape you like from your brown felt. I also machine stitched on top of the felt to add some texture. Place both stem pieces together (right-sides together) and stitch around the curve (leave the straight-side open). Turn right-side out.

Suff your stem with fiberfill.

Cut out two to three leaves per pumpkin. I did mostly brown leaves and a couple tan ones. Again, I machine stitched veins onto the brown felt with brown thread. This is your opportunity to be creative……cut your leaves out in any shape or size that you like. Mine were all different.

Next hand-sew your stem and leaves to the top of each pumpkin. There is no special technique here. Just place the leaves where you like and stitch away.

You can certainly skip the stitching on the stem and the leaves, but I think it adds a more realistic feel to the pumpkins.

For a final finishing touch, I took a bunch of deep red and green berries and added them to the top of each pumpkin. This was just one bunch that I purchased at Joann’s. I cut the bunch apart and wrapped two wire pieces around each stem. To make the curls, wrap the wire around a pen or pencil.

On a couple of the tan leaves, I hand embroidered some detail. I like the contrast between the tan leaves and the brown ones. You could hand-embroider all of the leaves or machine-stitch all of them……again, it’s up to you.

And there you have it – a family of festive fall fabric pumpkins!

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"R" is for Ribbon Organizer

Build: easy ribbon organizer

There are tons of different ribbon organizer systems out there.

I made this version using scrap 2x4 wood pieces and a round dowel:

I'm finally making headway in the basement unpacking my craft, sewing and shop supplies (hence the reason all these pictures were taken in the basement with overhead lighting :)).

I came across my ribbon stash and decided to tackle the situation.

I had two simple criteria for this ribbon organizer:

1. Easy on - easy off. I want the ability to easily remove the entire ribbon spool from the holder.

and

2. Visibility. I like to see my stock.

Each ribbon 'tower' is about 15" tall which holds at least a dozen spools.

The tower is super sturdy with a 2x4 base and the ribbon spools easily slide on and off the dowel as needed.

I started with a drawer full of ribbon spools and now have a beautiful organized shelf full of ribbon neatly stored by color:

The ribbon organizers make for great eye candy and sure dress up my stone basement workspace:

Consider your storage space before you make the ribbon organizers.

I had the perfect shelf to house the ribbon towers and I made the dowel height to fit the shelves:

How to build an easy ribbon organizer:

1. Cut scrap 2x4 into 3 1/2" lengths and purchase 5/16" round dowels:

2. Using a 5/16" drill bit mark the depth of the bit with painters tape so as not to go all the way through the 2x4 base.

Drill a hole for the dowel at least 1" deep:

3. Cut the dowels to desired height (mine are about 14").

4. Squeeze a generous drop of wood glue down into the pre-drilled hole:

5. Place dowel into hole and secure by tapping the top end with a hammer:

Let dry and full with ribbon spools!

http://thatsmyletter.blogspot.com/2013/10/r-is-for-ribbon-organizer.html

ALSO A GOOD ONE IS AT

http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/studio-ribbon-storage.html

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