A Cozy Creative Life

I’ve always enjoyed finding ways to make seasonal decorations a little more my own. Several years ago, I decided to try decoupaging a pumpkin with fabric.

The first one I made was the blue-and-white pumpkin. I chose the fabric because it reminded me of my mother’s blue-and-white china, which I now have displayed in my corner cupboard. I’ve always loved blue and white, so it seemed like a natural place to begin.

Once I made that first pumpkin, I started experimenting with other fabrics—florals, paisleys, toile and traditional fall patterns. Before long, I had made quite a variety, including some custom orders.

Choosing the Fabric

One of my favorite parts of making the pumpkins was going to our local fabric store and choosing the fabric. I could spend quite a while looking through all the possibilities and imagining how a particular print might look once it was wrapped around a pumpkin.

The size of the pumpkin helped determine which fabrics would work. A pattern that looked beautiful on the bolt might be too large for a small pumpkin, while a larger pumpkin could handle a much bolder design.

Some fabrics were fairly easy to work with because it didn’t really matter where the pattern fell. Others were more challenging. If there was a distinct flower, bird or other motif, I had to think about how the pieces would meet and where I wanted the pattern to appear on the finished pumpkin.

The custom orders added another challenge. Sometimes I was looking for a very specific color or pattern to suit what someone wanted. Finding just the right fabric wasn’t always easy, but that was also part of the fun.

My Creative Assistant

Working on the pumpkins meant spreading everything out—fabric, pinking shears, brushes, Mod Podge and, of course, the pumpkins themselves. I used pinking shears to cut the fabric because otherwise the edges would fray.

It also meant making room for Scottie.

Scottie loved being wherever I was, and the craft table was one of his favorite places to supervise. It didn’t seem to matter that I was actually trying to work there. If there was an open spot—or sometimes even if there wasn’t—he would find a way to settle himself right in the middle of everything.

Apparently, even the trash can filled with scraps was fair game.

I tried closing the craft-room door a few times, but Scottie would cry and paw at it until I gave in and let him back inside.

Eventually, supervising became exhausting work. More than once, he simply stretched out on the table and went to sleep while I continued cutting fabric and working around him.

Looking back at these photographs now, I’m not sure how I managed to make as many pumpkins as I did.

But I do know that Scottie was part of the process.

No Two Were Quite the Same

The pumpkins themselves were papier-mâché and came in different sizes and shapes. I found some at my local craft store and ordered others online. Having different shapes to work with made choosing the fabric even more interesting, because a pattern that worked beautifully on one pumpkin might not work nearly as well on another.

Once I started making them, I found myself trying all sorts of combinations. Some were soft and traditional, while others were much bolder. I used blue and white, florals, paisleys, toile and darker fabrics that gave the pumpkins a completely different look.

I also paid attention to the stems. I dry-brushed them with black and gold paint to give them an aged appearance. It was a small detail, but I thought it made the papier-mâché pumpkins look much more finished and gave them some of the character of something older.

Sometimes I added ribbon or trim, while other pumpkins needed very little beyond the fabric and the painted stem. That was one of the things I enjoyed most about making them. Even though I was using the same basic process each time, no two pumpkins were ever quite the same.

For the custom orders, the process was a little different. Instead of simply choosing a fabric that caught my eye, I was looking for something that would work with a particular color or pattern someone had requested. Those pumpkins could be more challenging, but finding just the right fabric made finishing one especially satisfying.

More Than a Fall Project

I made quite a few of these pumpkins over the years, and looking at the photographs now reminds me how much I enjoyed the entire process. I loved hunting for just the right fabric, figuring out how to make a pattern work on a particular shape, and watching an ordinary papier-mâché pumpkin become something completely different.

Some were made for other people, while others stayed with me. And that first blue-and-white pumpkin will always be special because it began with something I already loved—my mother’s blue-and-white china.

But these photographs hold another memory too.

There is Scottie, stretched across my worktable, surrounded by fabric and supplies, making himself comfortable while I tried to work around him.

At the time, I was making pumpkins.

Now I realize I was making memories too.