Pumpkin Standing Stuffie

SUPPLIES & TOOLS:

• Cricut® Iron-on Lite, Cocoa
• Quilting cotton in orange pattern
• Quilting cotton in green
• Cricut Fabric Grip™ Adhesive Cutting Mat
• Cricut® washable fabric pen
• Embroidery floss and needle
• Iron or heat press and press cloth
• Home sewing machine
• Batting
• PolyFil pellets (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

PREPARATION

1. Cut your fabric into 12"x 12" pieces for use with your machine. Fabric should be clean, dry, and free of creases.

CUT

2. Follow the prompts in Design Space to insert your materials into the machine, then press cut.
TIP: Remember to load material onto the mat rightside down.

3. Insert the washable fabric marker into your machine as directed.

ASSEMBLE

4. Familiarize yourself with all pieces and their markings. We are using step-out photos from a similarly designed project, but the assembly of the pumpkin is the same.
5. If applying heat-applied decorations to the face of your stuffie, do so now. Cutting extra pieces such as facial features from heat-bonded fabric or iron-on is a fun way to customize your stuffie.
6. Place any decorations on the right side of the fabric. The wrong side of the fabric has a face drawn on in washable pen as an embroidery guide. If it is difficult to see through your fabric for placement, hold it up against a light pad or window.
7. Apply iron-on to your stuffie pieces. In this case, apply the jack-o-lantern face to the front side of the stuffie.
8. The right side of the stuffie should now be ready for embroidery, if so desired. If your stuffie's face is composed only of iron-on features, continue to the next steps.
9. Use embroidery floss and needle to make a running stitch along the drawn guidelines for the lines down the pumpkin, working from the back. You can also embellish the face, or add other details.
10. The front of your stuffie should now be complete.
11. With right sides together, sew around the stem of your pumpkin. Trim or notch around the curve with scissors or pinking shears, and clip the corners to aid in turning. Turn the stem right side out.
12. Stuff the stem, leaving the seam allowance free from stuffing.
13. Pin the stem onto the top of the front piece, pointing down toward the face.
14. With the stem at top center, place the back of the stuffie over the front, and pin in place.
15. Sew around the edge of the stuffie at the marked seam allowance (5/8"), leaving a 2-3" opening in the side. Backstitch on either side of the opening to prevent tearing while turning and stuffing.
16. Notch around all curves, or clip with pinking shears.
17. Baste a gathering line around the outside edge of the stuffie bottom.
18. Pin one corner of the bottom to the inside of the seam allowance, with right sides together.
19. Gather the edge of the bottom into the lower edge of the stuffie, pinning in place as you go.
20. When the bottom is gathered and pinned in place, sew around the marked 5/8" seam allowance.
21. Trim the edge of the bottom to 1/4" with pinking shears, scissors or a serger.
22. Turn the casing right side out through the side turning hole.
23. Stuff the with batting through the side turning hole. To help the stuffie stand better, you may weigh the bottom with a small beanbag or other fabric weight set inside the bottom batting.
24. When finished stuffing, hand sew the side opening shut with a whip stitch or Henson stitch.