Needle Felted Pumpkin

I'm crazy for pumpkins! I love to eat pumpkin and have been baking up quite a storm in preparation for Thanksgiving, which here in Canada, is Monday 11 October. I've made Pumpkin Cheesecake (YUMMMMMMY!!), Pumpkin Roll, Pumpkin Cookies and for dinner tonight I plan to make my famous Pumpkin Soup. Yes! I'm crazy for pumpkins.

But not only do I like to eat foods made with pumpkin I also like to make and collect pumpkin ornaments and decorations. That brings me to todays SUPER FAST 10 MINUTE NEEDLE FELTED PUMPKIN. This little cutie makes a super cute table decoration or a table place setting favor. You can make them in any size your heart desires so a variety of sizes and shapes are easily crafted in just minutes.

So simple and so cute. Here is a top view. The total time to make from start to finish is 10 minutes.
The supplies are simple as well. You'll need wool batting for the pumpkin center. Then use a variety of colors of wool roving for your pumpkin, leaf and stem. I used a slightly different color of orange for the lines of the pumpkin but you could easily use embroidery floss, I think. You will need a super sharp felting needle and a foam mat to work on. The only caution when felting is BE CAREFUL! I find felting very relaxing and have to remember not to forget that I'm punching with a very sharp needle! YIKES!
Form the wool batting into a ball or shape that you'd like your pumpkin to be. Take very thin pieces of the orange roving and begin felting with the needle. The punch, punch, punch process goes very quickly. If you see thin spots you can easily fill in with small pieces of roving. Next I added my lines to the pumpkin with a slightly different color of wool and twisted it first into very thin lines. Punch it into place spacing the lines in thirds and divide the thirds again. Now for the leaf, pinch off a small piece of green wool and shape it into a leaf shape. I felted it flat first and then attached it to my pumpkin. Finally you are ready for the stem and again, pinch off a very small piece of brown/rust colored wool and shape into a stem and felt it to the top of the pumpkin.

I'm considering making a cornucopia of various fruits and vegetables using this simple needle felted technique. Imagine apples, carrots, pears, beans (yes beans! why not?) and every imaginable fruit and vegetable.

I did not create the video (below) but it is a great example of the process to make these felted pumpkins:


Happy Thanksgiving to all Canadians on Monday (tomorrow).
Cheers!

Jennifer