Learn how to make this cute pumpkin tea towel to gift or use as part of your fall home decor. This tutorial uses basic hand sewing applique techniques that anyone can do.
I love a good tea towel and they are fun to craft with too. Last year I created a roundup of fun tea towel crafts and today I have a new one to share with you.
How to Make a Pumpkin Tea Towel with Fabric
Supplies
- tea towel or large napkin
- embroidery hoop
- embroidery floss
- embroidery needle
- scrap fabric
This is a basic applique project. It does not require a sewing machine. All the stitches are super easy. Anyone can make this pretty pumpkin patch tea towel.
I used one of my extra long homemade linen napkins for this project. I liked the color of the linen with the pumpkins. However, any tea towel will work.
Above is the graphic template that I used. You can also use it by right-clicking on the image and selecting "save image as," to save it on your computer to print out. BTW you don't need to print it in color.
Here's the graphic printed in grayscale. As you can see it fits well within the width of the folded towel.
Because I wanted the tall pumpkin to be white, I only cut the portion of the medium sized pumpkin on the left in an orange color.
Next, cut out the large pumpkin and trace it on the white scrap fabric.
For the little pumpkin on the right you can match up the portion of the template that was cut off for the large pumpkin, and cut out the other piece of the large pumpkin now that you have already traced it onto the fabric.
Since the small green pumpkin is sitting on top of the white pumpkin you will want to cut out the entire piece. If you cut out the entire medium pumpkin in orange and place it behind the white it will show through. However, depending on the colors you choose and the thickness of the fabric it may not matter.
Fabric Considerations
I choose cotton and flannel fabric to sew on to the linen. I also think felt or corduroy would look super cute. Prints may also be a great choice. Keep in mind that you may want to wash the tea towel in the future and some fabrics like felt may not wash well. You may consider washing your scraps first, to remove any sizing. Often my tea towels are just for decoration so I don't worry about being able to wash them.
Next, glue the fabric shapes onto the tea towel with fabric glue or stitch witchery, a fusible bonding tape that acts like glue when you apply heat on top with an iron. This will help keep them in place while you embroider.
Once you have your fabric pumpkins in place, add the embroidery hoop around the area to keep the background fabric nice and taut. Choose embroidery floss for each pumpkin in either a coordinating or contrasting color.
How to Embroider the Pumpkins
I used 3 strands about 2-3 feet long of embroidery floss for each color. Create an outline by starting at a corner of one of the pumpkins.
- Tie a knot in one end then thread the other through the eye of the needle.
- Come up through the back of the linen and pull the thread all the way through until the knot catches.
- Then put the needle back down through the fabric just above the first spot.
- Then move to the left or right of your fabric and bring the needle back up through keeping the stitches close together until you completely outline the pumpkin.
You can do the same thing for each stem. I used a dark green for the stems but you can decide what color you want to use.
For the vertical lines use a pencil to lightly draw them. Then stitch from the bottom just like before only this time you want to leave a little space between each stitch.
As you can see my stitches are not perfect, but that just adds to the handcrafted appeal.
Overall, this handmade pumpkin tea towel applique project was super easy and I think it makes a great addition to my kitchen for the fall. Maybe I'll try this idea again with Christmas trees.
Pumpkin Tea Towel - Easy Applique Project for Your Fall Decor
Make an adorable pumpkin tea towel with this simple tutorial. It uses basic hand sewing applique techniques that even a beginner sewer can do!
Materials
- Tea towel or large napkin
- Embroidery hoop
- Embroidery floss
- Scrap fabric
Tools
- Embroidery Needle
Instructions
- Print out the pumpkin template.
- Cut out the pumpkin pieces and trace them onto your scrap fabric.
- Place it on the bottom of your tea towel.
- Glue the fabric shapes onto the tea towel with fabric glue or stitch witchery.
- Add the embroidery hoop around the area to keep the background fabric nice and taut.
- Choose embroidery floss for each pumpkin in either a coordinating or contrasting color.
- Tie a knot in one end then thread the other through the eye of the needle.
- Come up through the back of the linen and pull the thread through until the knot catches.
- Put the needle back down through the fabric above the first spot.
- Move to the left or right of your fabric.
- Bring the needle back up through, keeping the stitches close together to outline the pumpkin.
- Repeat for each stem.
- Use a pencil to lightly draw the vertical lines.
- Stitch from the bottom just like before.
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Carole West
Another fun project, at first glance I thought you sewed this. My grandmother taught me how to embroidery... Love this activity - just fun and simple, also a great thing to incorporate while watching a movie at home.
Patti Estep
Thanks Carole. Yes, I'm always looking for something to do in the evening while watching TV or a movie. So glad you lik