If you want to purchase an ad-free printable PDF version of this crochet pumpkin bookmark pattern, you can find it HERE on etsy.
Just a few months ago I did my first summer market in a long time. I was trying to come up with a more unique crochet item to sell year-round.
I looked all over Pinterest for ideas and inspiration for different items you can sell at craft fairs – and stumbled across the idea of selling bookmarks!
People read year-round – whether for school, for fun, or with their friends. So why not try to create and sell some?
I only made 3 bookmarks for the fair – two bees and one sunflower – just to see if they would sell. And people loved them! One woman said she would’ve bought more if I had them so she could give them as gifts to her book club members. Another bought one, circled the fair, and actually came back and bought another one for her sister!
With how much people loved the bee bookmarks I wanted to come up with a fall version for a market I’m doing in a few months, so I designed this little pumpkin one! And it turned out even cuter than I had imagined!
Each bookmark takes me about 30-40 minutes to make now, and it’s so fun to play around with different colored yarn and create all these different bookmarks.
It’s also so fun to see a bunch of books lined on a shelf with pumpkins on the top! It brings that cozy fall feeling right into the room.
So whether you’re making one of these bookmarks for yourself, a friend, as a gift, or for a market I know that you’re going to love this adorable little bookmark!
NOTE: If you want to sell finished products from this free crochet pumpkin bookmark pattern you’re welcome to, just make sure you link back to my pattern here and credit me with the design. Thank you!
Abbreviations
- sc – single crochet
- ch – chain
- Sl st – slip stitch
- BLO – back loop only
- FO – Finish off
- rnd – round
- sts – stitches
Materials
- Size C (2.75mm) crochet hook
- DK weight yarn in your desired pumpkin color, green, and brown
- Scissors
- Yarn needle
- Stuffing (I use polyester fiberfill)
- Small piece of cardboard (2” x 2.5”)
Pattern
To make this pumpkin bookmark you’ll first crochet a flat rectangle for the pumpkin, then seam, stuff, and cinch your pumpkin.
After that you’ll create the green bookmark chain and tassel, then use a small amount of brown yarn to crochet and sew on a stem.
Pumpkin
Begin with your C crochet hook and the color of yarn you want your pumpkin to be. Leaving a 6 inch tail at the beginning, ch 11, turn.
Row 1: Beginning in the 2nd ch from your hook, sc 10, ch 1, turn (10)
Rows 2 – 15: Working in the BLO, sc 10, ch 1, turn (10) (photo A)
Orient the piece you’ve just created so that the crochet hook and live yarn are at the bottom right corner (photo B).
Fold the bottom of the rectangle up to the top so that the ends meet (photo C).
You’ll now sl st across the two ends together. Do this by inserting the hook into the next st across the front piece, then into the beginning ch on the back piece (photo D).
Yarn over and pull it through the front and back layers (photo E) and then through the remaining loop on the hook (photo F). This creates a sl st that joins the two ends.
Continue making these sl sts across until you reach the end (photos G, H).
Then ch 1 (photo I). Cut the yarn about 2’ – 2.5’ long and pull it through to FO (photo J).
Flip your pumpkin tube right side out (photos K, L).
You should have a 6 inch tail on one end of the tube (the bottom) and the long tail on the other end (the top). Thread the 6 inch tail onto a needle (photo M) you’ll use this tail just to close up the bottom.
Around your tube you should have multiple ridges created by crocheting in the BLO.
Insert your needle into a stitch at the top of the next ridge to the left of where your yarn currently is (photo N). Pull it through. Continue stitching through the top of each ridge all the way around (photo O).
Then stitch back through the first ridge you worked into (photo P). Pull the yarn tight to close the bottom of your pumpkin. Insert the needle into the center of the circle (photo Q), pull it tightly through, and knot your yarn tail on the inside. Your pumpkin tube should now look like photo R.
Grab a small piece of stuffing and stuff your pumpkin (photos S, T, U).
Thread your long tail on the top side of the pumpkin onto a needle and close up the top of the pumpkin the same way you closed up the bottom (photos V, W, X).
Then insert your needle into the center of the circle, but this time have it come out of the center of the circle on the bottom of the pumpkin (photo Y). Pull it tight and then you’ll use this tail to cinch around the pumpkin.
You’ll notice there are 7 ridges around the outside of your pumpkin and one un-ridged section that’s larger than the rest. Beginning one ridge over from the unridged section, cinch the pumpkin by inserting the needle through the middle of the pumpkin the same way you did previously, with the yarn coming out of the bottom of the pumpkin draped across that unridged section (photo Z). Pull the yarn tight, ensuring it stays in between two of the ridges (photo a).
Then repeat cinching around between the ridges until you get to the larger unridged section (photos b, c). Once there, cinch one time across the unridged section (photo d).
Your pumpkin should have 8 sections now (photo e). Knot the yarn around one of the cinch lines as close to the center of the pumpkin as you can (photos f, g).
Once it’s secure, weave in the end (photos h, i).
Bookmark Chain and Tassel
Begin with your C crochet hook and green yarn. Leaving a 6 inch tail at the beginning, ch 66. Cut the yarn leaving a 6 inch tail and pull it through to FO.
Thread the tail you left at the beginning onto a needle (photo j) and insert it into your pumpkin through the center (photo k).
Pull it through until the beginning of your chain is as close to the pumpkin as possible (photo l).
Then knot the yarn around one of the cinch lines as close to the center of the pumpkin as you can (photo m). Pull it as tight as possible so the knot is nice and small (photo n).
Once it’s secure, weave in the end (photos o, p, q).
Grab your green yarn and wrap it around the short side of the cardboard 13-14 times (photo r). Then cut across what you’ve wrapped (photo s) so that you have 13-14 lengths of yarn about the same size (s) and lay them down in a little bundle (photo t bottom). Then cut another piece of yarn about 6” long (photo t top).
We’ll now attach the yarn bundle to the bottom of the bookmark at the end of the green chain we just attached to the pumpkin.
Grab the yarn tail at the bottom end of the bookmark chain you attached to the pumpkin earlier. Using a yarn needle or your fingers, split this tail in half. You’ll now have two thin tails coming out from your chain (photo u).
Lay one tail (we’ll call it the bottom tail) on a work surface in front of you coming straight down from the chain and lay the other tail (we’ll call it the top tail) in the opposite direction so it’s parallel to the chain (photo v).
Now place the yarn bundle you cut earlier on top of the bottom tail centering it as much as you can. You also want it as close to the base of the chain as possible. (photo w)
Now take your two tails and tie them in a very tight knot around the center of your bundle (photo x). To make sure it’s really tight, pull the first half of the knot as tight as you possibly can (photo y) before you finish tying the knot (photo z).
You should now have something that resembles the Lorax’s mustache hanging from your bookmark (photo .a). Use your hand to smooth it down so that the strands from your tassel and the tails you tied all point down (photo .b).
Now lay your 6” piece of yarn down horizontally on a work surface (photo .c). Place your tassel on top of this yarn so that it’s about ¼” down from the top of the tassel (photo .d).
Now tie the yarn piece in as tight of a knot as you can around the tassel. To make sure it’s really tight, pull the first half of the knot as tight as you possibly can before you finish tying the knot (photo .e). Pull the tails left from the knot you just tied down with the rest of the strands of the tassel so they blend in (photo .f).
Flip the tassel upside down and use your fingers to smooth all the strands of the tassel and get right up to the edge of the shortest strands (photo .g). Then cut across the tassel in a straight line to give it a clean edge (photos .h, .i).
Stem
Begin with your C crochet hook and brown yarn. Leaving a 6 inch tail at the beginning, ch 3.
Note: This creates a very short stem – if you want a longer stem on your pumpkin, just increase the number of initial ch sts and continue following the instructions.
Turn, and beginning in the 2nd ch from the hook sl st all the way across (2).
Cut the yarn leaving a 6 inch tail and pull it through to FO. (photo .j)
Thread one tail onto a needle and stitch down the stem to the center of the pumpkin above where you knotted and anchored the green bookmark portion (photos .k, .l).
Only make 2-3 stitches and then leave the tail coming out of the top of the pumpkin at the back of the base of the stem (photo .m).
Thread the other tail onto a needle and add a few more stitches to secure the stem, leaving the tail coming out of the top of the pumpkin right by the other one (photo .m).
Knot the tails together as tight as you can so that the knot is as small as possible and weave the ends in (photos .n, .o).
And your little bookmark is complete!
If you made a little guy from this crochet pumpkin bookmark pattern, feel free to post a picture on social media with #lifewithbubbins or tag me on instagram @lifewithbubbins so I can see your lovely creations!
And if you liked this crochet pumpkin bookmark pattern, check out some related free patterns of mine below.
Thanks for following along!
