Today I’m going to share with you the tutorial for my Cheesecloth Pumpkin.
You might remember them from my Fall Mantel.
I have been wanting to dye some fabric for a while, specifically cheesecloth. Probably because it’s so cheap I just wanted to figure out how to use it : )
Now that I have done it I can say two things about it:
– Dying fabric is not as difficult as it seems
– I LOVE cheesecloth
I’ve said it a 1,000 time, but I am in LOVE with fall! Really… I am. I know I talk about it a lot these days, but there wasn’t exactly a fall time in Texas so it is so new and exciting to me! I could watch the leaves fall all day long!
So do you want your own cute little cheesecloth pumpkin? Here is what you will need:
{Supplies}
– 1 pkg of cheesecloth (got mine at walmart)
– 1 bottle of orange rit dye
– small amount of fabric to go under the cheesecloth
– yarn or twine for the stem
– Rit Dye Instructions can be found on the bottle or here
{Tutorial}
One.
First thing you do is prepare the cheesecloth. I just followed the instructions on the bottle, but I have an HE machine, so I’ll share with you how I did it since it seemed to work for me ; )
You want to put your cheesecloth in the machine already wet, so I just soaked mine in the sink and put it in there already wet.
two.
Then you will need to dilute the dye. So, again following directions, I poured 1/2 the bottle into 4 cups of the hottest tap water I could get. (I had to do this in two separate batches because my measuring cup was only two cups – 1/4 bottle + 2 cups and then repeat one more time)
Then just pour it in where you normally put detergent.
It can get a little messy, so if you have pretty rugs underneath, you might want to move them, or put something under cause I got a little on my floor pouring it in. Luckily this is my laundry room……
I know, you’re jealous right? : ) At least it’s a laundry room, even if I forget about all my clothes down in the basement ; ) Plus I don’t have to worry about a little dye on the floor! Ok, moving on….
three.
Then I just set my washing machine to whitest whites and added in a soak time and extra rinse. Again, please make sure to follow the directions on the bottle!
Then I dried it, and that was it!
See…..really not that difficult! : )
Now on to the pumpkin.
Cheesecloth Pumpkin Tutorial
I just took a paper bag and crumpled it up and shaped it how I wanted. Then I wrapped it up in some off white flannel material I had lying around.
Wrap the cheesecloth around that and trim as necessary. Then wrap yarn or twine around the “stem” and tie it off.
So take a peek at my Fall Mantel and see how it turned out.
You can also check out my other fall projects:
– Fall Centerpiece
– Fall Printable
– Projects using leaves round up
– Fall mantel round up
Please follow the directions, I am only providing a guide on what worked for me. I cannot be held liable for following this tutorial. Please do not do anything you feel uncomfortable with and always check with the manufacturer.
Super cute! I was using black cheesecloth today and was wondering if white would dye well..now I know! :)
Thanks Crystal! It dyes awesomely : ) So much easier than I thought too!
Love! Seriously, so cute. But you are brave to put all that orange dye in your pretty washer–did it stain the tray?
Thanks Ruth! I was a little scared, but it didn’t stain the tray or mess anything up. You do have to clean your washer afterwards. I just ran a cleaning cycle with bleach and washed a load of old towels to be sure and all was good! : )
This turned out fabulous Ashley!!! Love that you can make the cheesecloth what ever color!! perfect!
Thanks ladies! Yeah… I think I might have a new thing with cheesecloth? What can I do with it for Christmas? hehe
Love this idea! It’s such an adorable little pumpkin. Megan
Thanks so much Megan!
Hi Ashley! This is awesome! Its funny how even though its just cheesecloth, its amazing what you can do with just a little dye ;) Love me some RIT!
I didn’t realize how easy it was! I am addicted… I will be changing the color of a lot of fabric around here… I’m tempted to try it on my couch. My husband would probably fall over if I did that though!
I don’t realize how easy it was to dye cloth! Did it make a mess out of your washer at all?
I didn’t either… it’s so easy! Nope, it didn’t mess it up at all. It didn’t even dye the tray, which I was a little concerned about. I did run a cleaning cycle afterwards with bleach just to be sure though!
Super cute!!! How did you get that color out of your machine when it was done? I would love to try but wouldn’t want my loads afterwards to be colored too.
Gina, it really wasn’t that bad at all. I did an extra rinse cycle with the fabric still in there. Then afterwards I just ran a cleaning cycle with bleach and it was good to go… I wash a load of old towels and cleaning rags and no orange! It didn’t even dye my tray : )
These are darling, Ashley!! I haven’t been brave enough to try dying fabric yet…maybe one day :)
Thanks Chelsea… I was a little scared, but it really is super easy! Give it a go! ; )
Such a cute pumpkin!! I love the dyed cheesecloth. Great touch! :)
Thanks girl! I had so much fun dying fabric, I think I’m addicted!
Super cute. I might have to try this. :)
Thanks Erica! So much easier than you would think ; )
Super cute. hugs, jen
Thanks Jen! Have a great day!
This is one of my favorite takes on the fabric pumpkin! I love the layered look of the white underneath the orange cheesecloth. So cute!
Thanks ladies! I had soooo much fun with these : ) I went back and forth about the white underneath… and I’m so glad I stuck with it!