October made me think of pumpkins—and all the memories that come with them.
Here’s how those memories led to seeds, drawings, a pumpkin roll, and this collection.
The ideas for this collection started with the idea of October being about pumpkins! Pumpkin picking, pumpkin desserts, pumpkin drinks, pumpkin carving, pumpkin seeds, and of course all of the beautiful colors of fall.
I cut open pumpkins of different sizes and dug out the insides. There’s something fun about scooping out all that stringy mess.
I’ve also accidentally grown pumpkins, so I had that experience in mind as I drew. I wanted to tell the story from the beginning: a seed, a sprout, leaves, a flower, and finally a pumpkin. I drew the stages individually, and those drawings gave me the pieces to build the rest of the designs.
My mom made pumpkin roll every year, so it had to be part of this collection. I drew a pumpkin roll for the recipe card, and that led to learning how to make one myself. What started as an illustration turned into a baking project.
I used the pumpkins, leaves, and flowers from my drawings to create repeating patterns, then added dots and stripes to bring the colors together into a cohesive collection that could be used for fabric, clothing, home décor, and other surfaces. Do you recognize any of these patterns or designs from your envelope of treasures?
The mockup photos below show how these patterns would look on different products. These are examples of possible uses for the designs.
Pattern applications are styled mockups. Select any image for a closer look.
Toni had already inspected the acorns, so naturally the pumpkins needed his attention, too. I did the cutting and scooping. He handled supervision.