When I made my first pin loom pumpkin three years ago I wasn’t totally enamored with it. First of all, I’d just made my scarecrow and, back then, I wasn’t comfortable with constructing 3D objects with pin loom squares. I was also learning about how color behaved in weaving—I really didn’t like how my stem turned out. Since then, I’ve learned a bit about pin loom construction. I removed the old stem and replaced it with a new one.
Old pumpkin, new stem
Deborah Bagley, of Yarnovations, is an absolute WHIZ at pin loom project construction. She has graciously granted permission for me to write this tutorial, using her original idea of the pumpkin. Please have a look at her other spooky designs in the Pin Loom Halloween Set. (She also sells a Christmas Pin Loom Pattern Set and the ebook Zoo Crew.)
IMPORTANT TIP: Use wool yarn. I think wool molds into shape a little better than acrylic, which prefers to spring back to its original state. And if you happen to use two strands together, wool tends to stick together better than more slippery yarn.
BASIC PUMPKIN INSTRUCTIONS—4″ Square Pumpkin
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- Make 1 square in green (or your chosen stem color), 3 in orange. For the orange squares, I recommend leaving a short beginning tail on all but one of the squares. Leave one extra long beginning orange tail (maybe 4″) and one extra long ending tail on one of the squares (wrap five times for two of the squares, 5 1/4 for one of them).
I used a 2″ square for the stem in each of the pumpkins I made. If you only have a 4″ square loom, you can use a 4″ square, but your stem may be a bit thick.
4″ squares with contour thread added (see next step below).
- The larger the square, the more necessary it becomes to give the pumpkin additional contour, so add a ribbing thread vertically in the center of each square. I recommend adding it to 4″ squares. 3″ squares could go either way—I didn’t add it to my 3″ or 2″ squares. You can add the extra thread while the square is still on the loom or after you’ve taken it off. You can even add it while you’re weaving, but I think this makes the weaving unnecessarily complicated.
Add a vertical gathering thread on 4″ squares for additional pumpkin shaping. You can add this while the square is still on the loom …
… or after you’ve taken it off. (I found either method nearly as easy as the other—especially since I usually forgot to add it while the square was still on the loom.)
Make sure to secure the contour thread at the bottom edge of each square so when you pull on it, it doesn’t come right out.
- Sew the three orange squares together edge to edge, creating a long rectangle. You can sew a straight seam, but I found it really useful to pull on the thread and gather the seam a bit while sewing the edges closed.
First two seams complete.
- Use a double running stitch. Go through the loops down one side (gathering as you go, if so desired). Then turn and sew back up opposite where you sewed the first seam. Make sure the second set of stitches closes the seam fully, making it look like a solid line of stitching with no gaps between running stitches.
Place squares right sides together and sew through loops only. The sets of loops will be offset, but don’t worry about that. Just go through two loops at a time.
Gather the seam while you stitch.
- (If you don’t close the seam neatly, you’ll end up with a jagged looking seam.)
Second pass of running stitches started out OK, but then got off course. This is how the seam looks when it’s not fully closed.
- Sew the last two edges together to make a sort of tube. Keep all seams on the wrong side (facing out for now) of the pumpkin.
At this point keep the pumpkin wrong side out.
- With pumpkin still inside out, run the needle through the bottom loops and draw them up tight, cinching the bottom hole completely closed (use the extra long beginning yarn tail). You may have to run the thread through a second time to get it to close all the way. Secure this closure so it won’t loosen up.
Gather-stitch the underside of the pumpkin through bottom edge loops.
Make sure to get all the ends pulled into the inside of the pumpkin. If you miss any, you can just thread them through after you turn the pumpkin right side out.
Pull the gathering thread tight and secure it inside, then turn pumpkin right side out.
- Make the stem. Roll the green square up as tightly as possible and sew it into that rolled shape. You may want to pull the seam so the stem curves, or you can add a cinching seam inside the stem after sewing the roll closed. You may want to fold up the bottom section of stem so it doesn’t stick way out of the pumpkin. (It’s not necessary to fold the stem on the larger pumpkins unless you use a large square for the stem.) If you have a 1″ square loom you can use that for a stem; it works especially well with the smaller pumpkins.
1″ Wunderwag loom
Roll the green square as tightly as possible.
Sew the flap closed.
Cinch the seam as you sew if you want a curved stem.
- Run a gathering stitch around the top of the pumpkin through the outside loops, as you did for the bottom. At this point you can pull on the vertical gathering threads to give the pumpkin a more organic shape.
Begin gather-stitching the top edge of the pumpkin.
Pull on the vertical gathering threads to give the pumpkin shape. (You may need to secure these at the top as you did at the bottom.)
- Add a little Poly-fil to the inside of the pumpkin; poke a divot into the filling for the stem. (You can use a lot of Poly-fil if you want your pumpkin stiffer, but I like it better with just a small amount.)
Add Poly-fil and the stem. Continue sewing and cinching the top of the pumpkin closed. You will need to run some stitches through the stem to keep it in place.
Secure all gathers and work in any extra ends that might be sticking out.
- Make 1 square in green (or your chosen stem color), 3 in orange. For the orange squares, I recommend leaving a short beginning tail on all but one of the squares. Leave one extra long beginning orange tail (maybe 4″) and one extra long ending tail on one of the squares (wrap five times for two of the squares, 5 1/4 for one of them).
2″ Square Pumpkin
By far the easiest, fastest, and cutest! It isn’t necessary to add the vertical gathering thread for this size.
Instead of sewing three orange squares, another option is to make one rectangle with your bookmark loom, but then you need to add gathering threads to create the extra ribs, or lobes. (A friend suggested this method. She also puts contrasting yarn in the “rib ditch” on the outside of the pumpkin to highlight the ribs.)
3″ (or Other Size) Square Pumpkin
- Small size squares don’t require adding the extra thread for creating another lobe (or rib) on the pumpkin. You can add it if you prefer it that way though.
- If you want to make a simple 3″ square loom, follow the instructions in my earlier post (see also Adventures in Pin Loom Weaving Topical Guide, topic: “Loom Making,” for templates to make other size looms). Making your own looms can be kind of a hassle, but if you want to construct 3D pin loom figures, I highly recommend it.
A trio of pumpkins
