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Mushroom Pumpkin

by JOANN |

Item # 262225213P178
Intermediate 3-5 Hours

SUPPLIES & TOOLS:

  • Embroidery Needles, 3
  • Embroidery Floss, Color of Felt
  • Felt, White
  • Poly-Fil
  • Funkin, Artificial Carvable Pumpkin
  • Foam Cone
  • Foam Ball, Larger Than Top Diameter of Cone
  • Hacksaw, Blade Extends Beyond Handle, Fine Tooth Blade
  • Sandpaper, 80 Grit, 1
  • Power Tac
  • Hot Glue Gun/Glue Gun Sticks
  • Pins
  • Sewing Tape Measure
  • Paint, Acrylic, Turquoise, Primary Blue, Navy Blue, White, Sable Brown
  • Paint brushes, 1" Chip, 3/4" Artists Flat
  • Palette
  • String
  • Pencil
  • Marking Pen or Tailors Chalk
  • Optional: Fabric Dye, Blue

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Tie string around sides of pumpkin. Hold the pumpkin up beside cone. Top of pumpkin will be the top of the mushroom. Adjust the string to location to cut pumpkin. Mark a pencil line around pumpkin along string. Cut at mark with hacksaw. Sand cut edges. Cut top 1/3 of foam ball flat. Place foam ball on top of cone, flat side up. Mark circle on ball the size of the top of the cone. Cut hole so cone will fit inside of ball. This will add surface area to the top of the cone to adhere the cone to the inside of the pumpkin. Fit the cap on the cone. Adjust the top of the cone/ball shape to fit by sanding.
  2. Felt: Measure the inside circumference of the pumpkin cap at the cut edge and add 1" for L. Measure the diameter from the inside edge of the pumpkin cap to the cone and add 2-3" for W. This will be the measurement for felt under the cap (gills) and the ruffle (ring). Cut one piece of felt L x W. Set aside.
  3. Paint the cut edge and top of the pumpkin cap turquoise. Brush over stem color. Let dry.
  4. Felt: Measure the height of the cone, H. Measure the diameter of the base of the cone and multiply by 2 1/2, W. Cut one piece of felt L x W. Overlap the height ends by 1/2", hot glue. This will create a tube that will be gathered around the cone base. Thread three needles with doubled embroidery thread. Sew running stitches, one close to top edge, one close to bottom edge and one 1/2 - 1/3 the H up from bottom edge. Place a bead of Power Tac around the outside of the bottom edge of the cone. Place the tube of felt, bottom gathered edge, on top of the adhesive. Pull thread tight. Adjust gathers. Angle pins through felt, into foam to hold felt until glue has set. Place small handfuls of Poly Fil inside of felt tube, around cone base. Pull running stitch 1/2 - 1/3 up H from bottom to gather. This does not need to be tight around the cone. Tie off stitching and adjust gathers. Pull the top stitching tight around the cone. Adjust the gathers and pull felt up toward ball. Mark a line on the cone at the top of the felt. Glue with Power Tac and pin until set.
  5. Apply felt to underside of cap. Find the center of the length of the felt. Place a 2" bead of hot glue on the inside of the cap, next to the cut edge of cap. Place the felt on the glue, felt 3/4" overlap onto cap. Continue hot glue around to the ends of felt. Overlap the ends.
  6. Use Power Tac to glue the ball to the top of the cone. Power Tac the top of the cone/ball to the inside of the cap. Let glue set.
  7. Hand gather the bottom edge of the felt attached to the cap. Tighten around the cone. Mark a line on the felt at location to be gathered. Determine the length of ruffle (ring). Cut felt to length. Use trim scissors to cut a short zig zag to the cut edge. Sew a running stitch along the gather line. Gather the fabric and tie off. Flip the mushroom upside down. Secure the ruffle (ring) with a bead of hot glue behind the gathers.
  8. Paint the top. Use a flat brush to add blues to low valleys on pumpkin cap and toward the cut edge. Immediately stipple the wet paint with a dry chip brush to soften the transition of colors. Add sable brown to the stem area and the darkest blue to the outer bottom edge. Add lightened turquoise to the tops of ridges in the pumpkin cap.
  9. Optional: Add fabric dye to add more dimension to the folds of felt. Blue Tie Dye works well with the turquoise color of cap. Test the saturation of the dye on a scrap of felt. Let dye dry between coats. Gravity will pull dye down felt. Set the pumpkin upside down on the cutoff bottom section of pumpkin to avoid puddles of dye at the bottom of the mushroom stem.

JOANN HACKS:

  • For a shorter mushroom adjust the height of the cone prior to measuring for the felt coverings.

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