Stitch an Adorable Pumpkin Pincushion in Less Than an Hour

Pumpkin pincushion Add some autumn cheer to your next sewing project! This handy little pincushion is super cute and can be whipped up in no time.

Pumpkin Pincushion

Level: Easy

What You Need

  • PDF template
  • 5″ x 18″ orange fabric
  • Green wool, cut into a 2½” square
  • Cotton thread, in color of your choice (for sewing the seams)
  • 1 cup ground walnut shells (or your favorite pincushion filling)
  • Large-eye needle
  • 2 yards orange pearl cotton thread
  • 1 brown button
  • Sewing pins
  • Fabric pen
  • Rotary cutter or scissors
  • Small funnel (optional)

Instructions

1. Cut Out the Pattern

Leaf pattern

Download and print the PDF template and cut out the template pieces. Lay the oblong pumpkin template on the wrong side of your orange fabric and trace around it. Repeat until you have six shapes, then cut out each shape.

Fabric  cutouts

Lay the leaf template on the wrong side of your green wool, trace and cut out. When you’re done, you’ll have one green leaf and six pieces for your pumpkin.

2. Stitch the Pumpkin Pieces

Back of fabric pattern

Place two pumpkin cut-outs on top of each other, right sides together. Sew them together along one edge with a ¼” seam allowance.

Partly stitched fabric cutouts

Open the unit, and sew a third strip of pumpkin fabric along the other edge, right sides together, so three pumpkin pieces are sewn together. Repeat this with the other three pumpkin pieces so you have two units of three sewn together.

3. Sew It All Together

Pinned fabric cutouts

Place the two units of fabric together, wrong sides out (you’re essentially nestling one inside the other), and pin. Sew all the way around the edge, leaving a small opening a few inches long. Turn the pincushion right side out through the opening.

4. Fill It Up

Partially sewn fabric pumpkin

Fill the pumpkin with ground walnut shells, or whatever you chose as filling. (Use a small funnel if necessary.) When the cushion is fully stuffed, carefully turn the raw edges of your opening under, then hand sew the opening closed.

5. Embellish the Seams

Thread the large-eye needle with pearl cotton thread and tie a knot at the end of the thread. Insert the needle through the top center of the pumpkin, where the seams intersect, and out through the bottom center. Pull the thread up around the pincushion so the thread is nested along one of the seam lines.

Again, insert the needle through the top of the pumpkin and out the bottom. Repeat until all the seams around the pincushion are lined with thread. This will give your pumpkin grooves along the seam lines. Leave your needle threaded, and make sure you end with the thread coming up through the top of your pumpkin.

6. Add the Final Details

Completed pumpkin pincushion

Place the leaf wool cut-out on top of the pincushion. Using the attached needle and thread, sew the brown button to the center of the leaf. This will secure the leaf to the pincushion. Tie off your thread under the leaf to hide your ends, and trim the thread.

Now you’ve got a festive tool for your fall projects!

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28 Responses to “Stitch an Adorable Pumpkin Pincushion in Less Than an Hour”

  1. eginio p. alvarez

    is there anyway that I can get print of this pattern, it would be easy for me to remember how to make the pincushion

  2. Joan

    Looks adorable

  3. Nancy

    Looks super easy. I'll have to make one.

  4. Lucy

    Love the pin cushion pattern, going to make it!

  5. Karen Webb

    Really cute

  6. Lea

    I'll give this to my granddaughter she is just starting to sew

  7. Pamela Rabon

    looks good and easy

  8. Bonnie Laub

    Can't wait to make one of these.

  9. Elizabeth

    Lovely little project to do.

  10. Barbara

    will use for my grand daughter