Turn a spare sweater into plush pumpkin decor

Most people have more than a few things in their closet that they haven't worn for years. With nicer items, such as a quality sweater, it can feel a little wrong to simply throw them out. If you're in that situation, you might as well turn sweaters into one-of-a-kind decorative pieces.

If you can't get enough of the fall aesthetic and you love a good DIY project, this upcycling project will delight all of your sensibilities. At the end, you'll have unique plush decorations with which to brighten your living room, kitchen or bedroom.

Materials
- Sweater
- Scissors
- Ruler or measuring tape
- Marking tool
- Sewing machine
- Pins
- Sewing needle
- Thread that matches the sweater
- Tapestry needle
- Yarn
- Poly fluff
- Hot glue gun
- Cinnamon sticks

Instructions
1. Lay out the sweater on a flat surface and cut off the sleeves.

2. Cut from the bottom of one side up and around the shoulders to the bottom of the other side, so you have two halves of the sweater's midsection.

3. Measure and mark a long strip from the middle of one half of the sweater, and cut it out. (The tutorial uses a section that's 18 by 7 inches.)

4. Fold the strip in half, short end to short end, and pin the ends together. Use the sewing machine along the pins to create a fabric tube.

5. With thread that matches the sweater and a regular needle, sew long stitches by hand around the perimeter of one of the ends of the tube. Pull the stitches tight to create a scrunching effect, and turn the fabric inside out to hide all of the stitching.

6. Fill the "bowl" with poly fluff, and hand stitch the edges together using large stitches to create more scrunching around the top.

7. Thread a tapestry needle with yarn and tie a knot in the end.

8. Push the needle through the bottom of the pumpkin to the center of the other side.

9. Stretch a length of yarn from the top of the pumpkin to the bottom, and pull the needle through the center again. Repeat steps 8 and 9 until the pumpkin has five or six sections.

10. Affix a cinnamon stick to the top center of the pumpkin like a stem using the hot glue gun.