Fabric Sculpting Halloween Decorations - A Tutorial

Fabric Sculpting is a fun way to make great decorations for your haunted house or your harvest table. And with Jacquard Sculpting Medium, sculpting with fabric has never been easier! It is so easy to use you don't need to have any mad skills to make some great spooky decorations! Let us show you how!

Ghost shopping list:

• Clean 100% cotton fabric. We used Cotton Print Cloth. You can also use Gauze or Unbleached Cheesecloth for spooky effects!
• 1 small Wire Skeleton
• A base; we used a cardboard box
• Jacquard Sculpting Medium
• Aluminum Foil
• Masking tape: we suggest 1"
• Black Sharpie

Pumpkin shopping list:

• Strips of 100% cotton fabric. We used Cotton Print Cloth (#CPC)
• A bunch of plastic grocery bags
• Jacquard Sculpting Medium
• Masking tape: we suggest 1"
• Lumiere and Neopaque Paints: 543 Burnt Orange, 542 Citrine and 587 Green
• A twist of aluminum foil
• Remember!: Sculpting Medium sticks to everything but plastic, so you would want to cover your work area with newspaper and a plastic drop cloth.

To make the ghost:

Step 1: Attach the skeleton to base

Attach your Wire Skeleton to the base, we used a cardboard box covered in a plastic bag so we could remove our skeleton later and make him fly.

Step 2: Add aluminum foil form

Crumple aluminum foil around wire skeleton to form a rough head and rough arms and hands. Since ghosts are not very defined figures all you want is something to give support. If desired, you may use a Styrofoam egg pushed down over the top wire skeleton loop for the head. Squeeze foil firmly around skeleton - it will make your figure stronger. Secure any loose pieces, like the arms, with tape to make draping easier.

Step 3: Practice draping

Practice draping your fabric over the form, this will give you an idea of how big a piece to cut, our piece was about 20 x 20.

Step 4: Apply sculpting medium

Dip the fabric into Jacquard Sculpting Medium and knead the sculpting medium into the fabric; it should be well saturated but not dripping wet.

Step 5: Drape and pose

Drape the fabric over your form, you have about 5-10 min or so to adjust the drape until it will become too stiff. If you need to you can add more foil to the arms for better support.

Step 6: Dry and remove form

When finished the first wrapping let your ghost dry. You can use a hairdryer to help speed the initial drying time (but NOT a heat gun). In approximately 48 hours, your figurine will be hard enough that you can gently remove the skeleton and foil.

Hang your ghost for some ghoulish fun!

To make the pumpkin:

Step 1: Create the pumpkin form

Start by making the form of your pumpkin. Take one plastic bag and scrunch up all the other bags inside it. Tie the bag closed and twist the handles, they will become the stem. Tape around the stem to make it firm then trim it to the length you want.

Step 2: Create pumpkin sections

Using more masking tape, tape the bags into sections. Start at the stem and pull the tape down the side and to the bottom of the pumpkin. Work your way around. This is what will make it look like a pumpkin. You can also use string if you like for very defined sections.

Step 3: Apply fabric strips

Dip your fabric strips into Sculpting Medium. Knead the sculpting medium into the fabric; it should be well saturated but not dripping wet. Squeeze out any extra sculpting medium from the strip before applying it.

Step 4: Wrap the pumpkin

Drape the fabric over your form, starting from the stem and down to the underside of the pumpkin. Once you have covered the sides wrap the stem. You have about 10 min or so to adjust the drape until it will get too stiff.

Step 5: Add leaves and tendrils

To make the leaf cut one of the strips into 3 sections and layer them. Cut a rough leaf shape and trim the edge a little jagged for effect. Rub on the sculpting medium and then position the leaf at the base of the stem. For the tendril wrap a 4-5 inch twist of foil in a strip of fabric, twist it around a finger to get the curly shape and position it next to the leaf. Add as many leaves or tendrils as you like.

Step 6: Dry and paint

When finished the wrapping let your pumpkin dry. You can use a hairdryer to help speed the initial drying time (but NOT a heat gun). In approximately 48 hours it will be dry enough to paint. We used the 543 Burnt Orange for the body of the pumpkin. For the stem we first panted on the 587- Green, when that was dry we dry brushed on the 542- Citrine to give the stem some texture

Put your pumpkin outside or use as a great center piece all autumn long. If you plan to put it outside, a coating of Varnish is recommended