I needed a new throw pillow for my fall home decor. Thereupon, I decided to create a DIY pumpkin applique pillow and then sew a throw pillow cover with it. I used linen fabric available here for the pillow cover and added the pumpkin applique in the black and white check. The pretty yellow bench the pillows are sitting on we made a few months ago and the tutorial you can see here.
Pumpkin pillow sitting on our one-board-bench and our handmade pumpkin
This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase from one of these links, I will make a small commission, but rest assured, you will not pay more for any products.
How to Make an Applique
Making a pumpkin applique uses the same techniques as any applique, with attention to the particular design is the only difference. I started my applique by drawing the pumpkin on a piece of regular paper, then taped it up on the kitchen window with the Wonder Under over it and traced the pumpkin on the paper side of the Wonder Under.
Tracing the pumpkin design
After I traced the pumpkin and the leaf, I cut away the leaf since it would be out of a different fabric.
Traced pumpkin
Since I loved all three of these fabrics, I purchased a yard of each one. Then, I decided to make my first pillow with the smallest plaid, usually checked.
Buffalo check fabrics
Next, the applique (traced pumpkin on Wonder Under) needs to be ironed to the wrong side of your fabric.
-
- Hot iron ready
-
- Ironing the Wonder Under
-
- Leaf Wonder Under
After the iron on the applique is cool, cut it out along the traced lines. Then peel off the paper backing. Now it is ready to attach to the pillow pieces.
Removing the paper backing
Serging the linen pillow pieces
Attaching the applique:
-
- Pieces for pillow
-
- Ironing pumpkin
-
- ironing leaf
The purple marking in the center of the pumpkin marks the center. The pillow piece has the same center mark on it, so I lined them up to center; the best part is I ironed it on. Once the pumpkin had adhered and cooled, I ironed on the yellow leaf.
Appliques are ironed on the linen.
The small check fabric looked a little busy, so I decided not to embroider the lines in the pumpkin. However, I did embroider the lines (veins) on the leaf. Then I blanket stitched with black embroidery floss around the check fabric; I used yellow embroidery floss to blanket stitch around the yellow leaf.
Blanket stitching
The tie is a piece of pearl cotton. The easiest way to make a pillow is to make it an envelope pillow; see my pillow tutorial from an earlier post here. Mostly, I use an invisible zipper when making throw pillow covers since they use less fabric.
Black and white plaid/check pillows and pumpkin ready for fall
This pumpkin pillow applique DIY only took a few minutes to create. Once the pillow was finished, I decided to make a pumpkin to go with it. You can see how to make these here.
Check fabric pumpkin
-
- Heating glue gun
-
- Long needle
-
- Easy sew fabric pumpkin
Sunny fall fun pumpkin decor
Supplies needed:
Linen fabric
Black and white check fabric
Embroidery floss in black, white, and yellow
Pillow form
Invisible zipper
Yellow fabric
Sewing machine
You might also like my other applique pillow designs:
This has been a quick project, but I love the results. More pumpkins and pumpkin pillows are on my short to-do list.
My Amazon picks:
Are you ready for fall?
Happy Sewing,
Kippi