It’s officially fall season! When it comes to seasonal decor, I do my best to incorporate pieces that are can be used beyond just the season or something that is upcycled. Home decor can be eco-friendly!
This year, I decided to try making those classic DIY Fabric Pumpkins you can find on Pinterest, but with a twist — using old socks — yes, OLD SOCKS! (Don’t worry, these ones were clean!) I have a bag full of mine and my partner’s socks that have holes or the elastics are worn out. These pumpkins were a great project for them!
Instead of buying and using polyfil stuffing, why not use socks? I experimented a few different ways of using them to fill the pumpkin, from creating a perfectly round ball and placing one sock into another to wrapping a loose mound. The latter is what I recommend to give you the flexibility you need later on for creating the ridges & grooves of the pumpkin. The final product is more of a nice “Cinderella pumpkin” vs. a perfectly symmetrical mini pumpkin.
I think the highest compliment I got for these is when my sister-in-law saw my toddler throw one and she was concerned it was a real squash! 🤣
I love that each pumpkin is not perfectly symmetrical and one of a kind, like real pumpkins. These are also great if you have little ones at home who like to get their hands on your decor. My toddler loves playing with these and I don’t have to worry about him getting hurt or them breaking.
What you’ll need to make your own DIY Upcycled Sock Pumpkins
📌 Materials:
- old socks
- jute twine
- fall colored fabric
- hot glue gun
✂️ Instructions:
- Fold and layer socks on top of each other. You’ll want to make a loose mound rather than a tightly shaped ball so that you can have flexibility later on when tying the pumpkin together.
- Once you’ve reached your desired pumpkin size, place the mound onto your fabric and cut out a square large enough to wrap your sock pumpkin. More fabric is better than not enough here.
- Take the edge of the fabric and wrap your sock pumpkin towards the top center. Fold to your liking and repeat all the way around. We’ll turn the excess fabric at the top into a stump.
- Using jute twine, wrap the extra fabric at the top to make your stump. Tie a knot but don’t cut the string just yet.
- Now we make the pumpkin ridges/grooves! Wrap the string around your sock to and tighten to create a nice ridge. Repeat this again, this time at a perpendicular so that the two lines make a cross at the bottom of your pumpkin. Repeat two more times to create 45 degree lines all around.
- Wrap and tie the string at the top of your pumpkin.
- Cut out excess fabric from your stump.
- Using a hot glue gun, use more jute twine to cover the top of your stump.
- Cut string and adjust and shape your pumpkin as needed.
- Voila! DIY upcycled sock pumpkin to decorate your home with!
