DIY Pumpkin Embroidery Hoop

Create a beautiful pumpkin embroidery hoop using scraps of fabric and my free printable pattern. Decorate your pumpkin with a cute bow or learn how to add a felt banner with an embroidered message.

Hello Crafty Friends! Autumn is right around the corner and with it comes cooler days and harvest season! This pumpkin embroidery hoop is a fun appliqué project that can be displayed all season long right through Thanksgiving. 

For my hoop I found beautiful fall prints at my local Joann Fabrics but this pattern is also perfect for using up fabric scraps from your stash.  The pumpkin can be embroidered with just a simple running stitch and a bit of brown embroidery floss. I chose to add french knots around the border of the hoop which I think really finishes it off. 

In this tutorial I will show you how to stain your own embroidery hoop, appliqué the fall pumpkin and also how to add an embroidered felt message. I made mine with the words “Hello Autumn” but you could write your own message or even personalize it with a family name.

While I chose to make my pumpkin embroidery hoop in harvest colors, you could switch things up and create a Halloween-themed hoop instead. Consider using black or purple fabric for the background and using brighter orange colors for the pumpkin.  

The pumpkin appliqué is created using three three different fabrics for the main pumpkin and ome for the stem. I found the textured brown wool in my stash but the other fabrics came from my local Joanns. I used them to also make a fall owl pillow which I’ll be sharing next week! This project only took a bit of fabric so I was happy to use it for more than one project. 

Pumpkin Embroidery Hoop

Supplies Needed

• Free printable sewing pattern – Grab the free file by filling out the purple form at the end of this post.
• 9″ Embroidery hoop
• Deco Art Americana Gel Stain in Maple
• Fabric
  • Background
    • Tan Fabric 12″ x 12″
  • Pumpkin
    • Gold Fabric 6.5″ x 6.5″
    • Orange Fabric 5″ x 5.5″
    • Harvest Plaid Fabric 3.5″ x 5.5″
  • Stem 
    • Brown Wool Fabric 2.5″ x 2.5″ 
• Sewable interfacing like HeatnBond Lite
• Mark-B-Gone Pen or Pencil
• Brown and Gold DMC Embroidery Floss 
• Orange Twine
• Fabric Scissors
• Embroidery Needle
• Embroidery Scissors

Staining and Preparing the Embroidery Hoop

Start by staining your embroidery hoop using gel stain. I love staining my hoops with DecoArt’s Gel Stain because it is a fairly quick and easy process. I just paint the stain on, then use a paper towel to wipe it off. For this hoop I used my Mapel stain and repeated the process a few times to get a deeper stain color.

I could have also used a darker stain like the Walnut and may have only needed one coat. You can read more about staining your own embroidery hoops including a peek at the other stain options. 

Once your hoop has been stained and is completely dry, stretch your background fabric in the hoop. Cut down the fabric so there is about 1″-1.5″ of fabric left around the hoop. 

At this point I went ahead and marked the placement of my french dots on the hoop using a heat transfer pen. You can do this a number of different ways, but I ended up taping the pattern to the top of my hoop and using a straight pin to poke through each hole in the paper pattern. With the pin poked through, I lifted the edge of the paper pattern and marked the fabric with a little dot right where the pin pierced the fabric. 

Cutting Out The Pumpkin Appliqué

The pumpkin appliqué is created from four pieces of fabric that are layered together. I chose to use a fusible interfacing to hold the pumpkin in place on my hoop while I stitched. I like using interfacing because it creates crisp edges since the fusible interfacing helps keep the fabric from fraying. It is also nice not having to hold things in place or worry about the fabric shifting while I stitch.

Using Fusible Interfacing: Start by laying a piece of fusible interfacing, paper side up, on top of the printable pattern. Trace the shapes then bubble cut them out leaving about 1/4″ around each shape. Iron the pieces to the wrong side of the fabric, then cut the shapes out directly on the pencil line.

Not Using Fusible Interfacing: Since the pieces are layered it can be difficult to stitch through the top layer since you will be stitching through 4 layers of fabric and 3 layers of interfacing. If you would like to avoid stitching through thick layers you can use the pattern that is not reversed and simply cut out the pattern pieces and trace around them on the fabric. Cut out the fabric pieces and layer the them on the hoop, holding them together with pins or by hand while you stitch.

Applying the Pumpkin Appliqué to the Hoop

Iron the pumpkin appliqué shapes together starting with adding the stem to the largest pumpkin piece. Next iron the two smaller pumpkin shapes on top. 

While layering the fabric, the pieces may not line up perfectly since each one is hand cut. Don’t worry -this is a simple fix! Layer them so the top of the pumpkin lines up nicely, then after ironing the pieces together, cut any pieces of fabric sticking out along the bottom edge.

Next iron the pumpkin to the center of the hoop. I placed a small stack of felt under my hoop to help give me a solid surface to iron on top of. 

Embroider the Pumpkin Hoop

Use brown embroidery floss and a simple running stitch to embroider the pumpkin and stem. I kept my stitches about 1/8″ from the edges of the fabric piece I was stitching and used 4 strands of floss. (Embroidery floss can be divided into 6 individual strands. I threaded my needle with two strands and tied a knot at the end so I was stitching with 4 threads total.)

Add french knots around the border of the hoop following the markings you made earlier. Use gold embroidery floss, or a color that compliments your pumpkin. Here is a helpful post and video from Penguin and Fish on how to make a french knot. 

Adding a Felt Banner Message

Your hoop can be finished after adding the french knots or you can go a step further and add an embroidered felt message. To do that you will need: 

• Free printable Banner Message – Available in the printable packet that can be downloaded from the bottom of this post.
• Cream felt
• Brown Embroidery Floss
• Aunt Martha’s Tracing paper and Pencil

Start by laying a piece of Aunt Martha’s tracing paper on top of the banner pattern. Trace the reversed banner using the special heat transfer pencil. Be sure your pencil is very sharp and you aren’t pressing too hard. You want to create a thin, light marking that can easily be covered up with your stitching. You can also outline the outer edge of the banner.

Place the tracing paper, pencil side down, on top of the cream felt and lightly iron it. The pattern will be transferred to the felt like magic! Use brown embroidery floss to embroider the message using a small backstitch, then cut out the banner!

Attach the banner to the front of the pumpkin using two small stitches on either end. 

Finishing the Back of the Hoop

Using thread, stitch around the edges of the fabric using a running stitch. Once you’ve completed the stitching, pull on the threads gathering the fabric inwards on the back of the hoop. Tie off the gathering stitch with a secure knot. You can glue the back of the hoop to a piece of felt or a piece of 12″ x 12″ scrapbook then trim off the excess. 

Display the hoop in a wooden easel or use ribbon to hang it on the wall. I hope you enjoy creating this sweet pumpkin embroidery hoop! It makes a great piece of seasonal decor. If you are looking for more fall crafts, check out my Autumn Crafts Page. 

If you have fun making this sweet embroidery hoop, be sure to check out my Halloween appliqué ornaments! You’ll find 7 different patterns that all fit a 5″ square piece of fabric. Perfect for fabric scraps and charm packs! 

Get the Pumpkin Embroidery Hoop Pattern!

Fill out the purple form below with your first name and email address! The free file will be sent straight to your inbox! If you have already filled out the form below, don’t worry – you won’t be added to my list twice! This freebie is for personal use only. I hope you enjoy crafting something special. Please let me know if you have any questions :)