Potato Stamped Fall Pumpkins

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I love these fun FALL pumpkins! They are a very "me" version of seasonal decor : neutral, twiggy, linen texture and some blue, just perfect! Once I got the idea into my head I had to dive right into them, and they were SO easy, they took 2 days worth of nap times and some of that was me taking them around the house trying to find the perfect spot and taking pictures. Need the details? Read on.

I started off with 4 pieces of cotton muslin fabric. I cut 3 pieces at 7" by 15", and the 4th piece slightly larger at 9" by 15." I folded each piece in half and did a simple straight stitch down the side, leaving the top and bottom open. That's right I sewed them on a sewing machine!!! This is a first for me here on Lemon Tree Creations, and I'm really excited about it!! (You'll be seeing a lot more from me and my sewing machine in the future, but more about that later.) Anyway, you could do this part with a glue gun or Heat N Bond as well, but if you have a sewing machine it's just so SO easy.

Next I pulled out some medium sized red potatoes, my knife and made some little stamps. It was just like the elementary school days, except with slightly more sophisticated designs (as opposed to just circles or whatever we cut out then, although I'm aware that I just used the word "sophisticated" to describe my potato stamp...but moving on...)

Before I used my stamps on the muslin, I inked them so that I could see where my lines needed to be straightened out, and then trimmed them up until they were just right.

I also tested out my stamping "technique" with each letter on a fabric scrap before I stamped each pumpkin. I used DecoArt's fabric paint and it gave me perfect and permanent coverage.

I applied a light layer of paint to each stamp with a foam brush and then stamped it on.

Some of the letters didn't turn out perfectly, and I decided that this was a perfect opportunity to let my perfectionist tendencies slide and embrace the imperfections. (I also found that dabbing a little paint to fill in the edges didn't ruin the "stamped" look that I was going for, just in case you opt out of that embracing imperfections nonsense.)

I now had 4 little muslin sacks.

I turned each sack inside out, threaded a needle, and hand stitched around the top of the fabric. I just wove the fabric onto the needle instead of pulling the thread all the way through at every stitch and was done in a flash. I pulled the string taut to gather the fabric, stuffed the edges inside, and secured it with a few stitches.

I then turned the sack right side out, filled it with stuffing, and hand stitched the bottom the same as the top. (I am not typically a fan of the time investment of hand sewing, but I sewed and stuffed all 4 of these during 2 Project Runway re-runs, stopping to watch the fashion show and judging, so really it wasn't much time at all.)

I threaded my needle with a thicker thread (I used cotton twine) to give the pumpkin the tell tale "pumpkin lines" and puckered shape. I pushed the needle through the middle of the pumpkin, from top to the bottom and around the sides about 5-6 times to give the shape I wanted.

I finished each pumpkin by hot gluing a small twig from my yard in the middle as the stem.

Don't they look even more fall-ish with a dry cornfield behind them? I think so.

I can't help but love when I can bring a project from a concept to a finished reality in 2 nap times!! I need more projects like that.

What do you think? Too neutral or are they fun? Has anyone else potato stamped anything since they were 8 years old or is it just me?

As always, I'll be linking these to some great parties. Check them out here for some incredible seasonal inspiration.

See you next Monday!!