Pumpkin Pie Tea Towel Sewing Tutorial

Is there any dessert more associated with Thanksgiving than pumpkin pie? I don’t eat pumpkin pie any other day of the year, but on Thanksgiving I want a big slice of pumpkin pie with a huge dollop of whipped cream on top. This pumpkin pie tea towel makes a cute decoration for your kitchen – or a fun hostess gift to bring along to Thanksgiving dinner. I’ve got a free sewing pattern below and a tutorial showing how to make one.

My mom hosts everyone for Thanksgiving – and of course she makes a couple of pumpkin pies every year – so this tea towel is headed for her house. I think she’ll love it!

To make the pumpkin pie tea towel, you’ll need a tea towel, some fusible webbing, and fabric scraps.

You can either make your own tea towel from scratch or save yourself a few steps and use a purchased tea towel. I couldn’t find a towel in the store that worked for this project so I made my own from some gorgeous 100% linen.

To make a tea towel, use the first part of my applique pumpkin tea towel tutorial. After you make the basic towel, come back over to this post to see how to assemble the pumpkin pie applique.

The applique takes a number of different colors, but you won’t need much of each color. This is a good project for your scrap bin! I found all the fabrics I needed in my scrap stash.

I used quilting cotton for all of the pieces except for the whipped cream. That is made from fleece. The fleece is more opaque than a quilting cotton so the colors of lower layers didn’t show through. Plus I liked the fuzzy texture of the fleece for the whipped cream.

Supplies:

Plain towel. You can either purchase one or you can make one yourself using the instructions in my applique pumpkin tea towel tutorial. I made my own towel from 100% linen, but cotton home dec weight fabric also makes a nice towel.

Fusible webbing

Fabric scraps:

Whipped Cream – white fleece

Pie Crust – Brown quilting cotton

Pie Top – Dark orange quilting cotton

Pie Side – Mustard yellow quilting cotton

Plate – Gray quilting cotton

Free pattern – Pumpkin Pie Tea Towel

Prep

Trace pattern pieces to the back (paper side) of your fusible webbing. The pattern pieces are already reversed and ready to be traced.

Then follow manufacturer’s instructions to fuse the webbing to the back of your fabrics. Cut the pieces out of the fabric.

Sew the Pumpkin Pie Applique

Follow manufacturer’s instructions to fuse the pieces down to the towel, in the order shown below. Topstitch around each piece to secure it before moving on to the next piece.

I used matching threads for each of the colors in the applique. It was a little more work to switch out the thread for each color but the matching thread helped camouflage any wonky stitch lines. I used a neutral thread in my bobbin so I didn’t have to change the bobbin for each color.

First, fuse the Plate 2” from the bottom of the towel and centered horizontally. Topstitch to secure.

Fuse the Pie Crust, then topstitch to secure. You can use the Placement Guide included in the pattern to help you get the Pie Crust placed perfectly on the Plate.

There are some tight curves on this piece. Reduce the stitch length and take it slow as you go around those curves. I hand cranked my machine across the entire scalloped edge.

Fuse the Pie Side down and then topstitch it to secure.

Now, place the Pie Top down across the top of the Pie Side, overlapping the top of the Pie Side ever so slightly. Be careful when you’re placing this piece that you get the point lined up with the edge of the Pie Side. Fuse down, then topstitch to secure.