Bunch of Pumpkins Tutorial

One of our most popular Back to School designs was this adorable Bunch of Apples design.  The design has a little bit of fill stitch, but is mostly a raggy stitch and pretty quick to stitch out.  You can use 1 fabric, 2 different fabrics, or 9 different fabrics as I did in the example below. 



I decided to create another "bunch" design...this time Pumpkins!  I am also considering bunches of footballs, ornaments, hearts, etc.  It is a great design to use up all kinds of small pieces of scrap fabric...or to really showcase one fabric that you LOVE! 

I thought it might be helpful to detail by pictures how I stitch this design.  So here goes...

First up is the instruction sheet:




(As an aside, did you know that every design you purchase from All Things Applique comes with a detailed instruction sheet similar to this one?  I hope the instructions help!)

The first step is to pick your fabrics.  I start by cutting small squares.  (Note: For the 5X7 design, each pumpkin is 1.25" x 1.4" so these are small pieces of fabric.)  Then I play with the squares to arrange them however I like.  I think I spent as much time arranging as I did stitching! Ha!  But truly...I think this design looks good no matter how you arrange your fabric. 



The first step in this design is the pumpkin stems. Simply hoop your item...make sure it is centered...thread your brown or green thread and stitch the first color.



One quick note...

I set the design to stitch as follows:
Top Row: Left to Right
Middle Row: Right to Left
Bottom Row: Left to Right

This order prevents a big jump stitch from the top right pumpkin to the middle left pumpkin. The design snakes down to create the smallest jump stitches possible.

The next step is the Placement Stitch. I like to place a large sheet of flannel or felt down that covers the entire hoop for this step. See below.



Now you are ready to stitch color 2. Note, all placement stitches will stitch in one color without stopping.

Once your placement stitch is in place...

\

It is time to stitch the tackdown stitch for all 9 pumpkins. You have a couple of choices here. You can lay one fabric down at a time and add the next fabric at each color stop on the machine. Or, you can lay all 9 fabrics down at once and then just go through the 9 tackdown stitches without having to remove your hoop or lay down any fabric in between stops. See below for an example.



If you choose the latter, you will need to make sure that your scrap fabrics pieces do not overlap at all or the tackdown stitches might grab the wrong fabric. Either way is fine...just do what is most comfortable for you!

After all of the tackdown stitches are complete, you are ready for the final step...the redwork/detail stitches. These will all stitch in one step. Again, the order snakes down the design...top row is left to right, middle row is right to left, and bottom row is left to right.



Once all stitching is done, remove your item from the hoop and carefully trim away the excess fabric and enjoy your beautiful work!



What other "bunch" designs would you like to see?