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Two droopy teardrop eyes hang over a long curving smile crossed by short stitch marks, giving the face a sweetly sinister rag-doll look. The eyes and the full stitched mouth are pierced through, with each stitch cut as a small notch branching off the main smile line. At medium difficulty, carve the long mouth curve first, then add the stitch notches one at a time so the thin rind between them stays supported. This design is rated Intermediate and takes most carvers around 75 minutes from trace to glow. Comfortable knife handling required. Small details and curves.
Pumpkin size guide
- 🎃 Small (5–7") — print at 80%
- 🎃 Medium (7–10") — print at 100% (recommended)
- 🎃 Large (11–13") — print at 130%
- 🎃 Giant (14"+) — print at 150% on tabloid paper
Frequently asked questions
Can I resize this stencil?▾
Yes. The PDF is vector so it scales cleanly. Print at 100% for a 7–10 inch pumpkin, 130% for 11–13 inch, or 150% for a giant. Use your printer's "Fit to page" or "Custom scale" setting.
What kind of paper works best?▾
Standard 20 lb letter or A4 printer paper is fine. Heavier paper is harder to bend around the pumpkin curve. If your printer supports it, set the quality to 'best' so the lines are crisp.
How long will the carved pumpkin last?▾
Usually 5–10 days. Coat all cut surfaces with petroleum jelly and store the pumpkin somewhere cool overnight. Avoid direct sun. Battery LED pumpkin lights produce no heat and double the lifespan.
Can I sell pumpkins carved with this stencil?▾
Yes, the carved pumpkin you make is yours. The license covers personal and small-scale commercial carving (selling carved pumpkins, photographing them, posting on social). You may not resell the PDF file itself.
What if my printer doesn't print the whole stencil?▾
Set 'Page scaling' to 'Fit' in the print dialog and uncheck 'Auto-rotate'. If it still cuts off, the design includes 0.25" of safe-area margin so a small crop won't ruin it.
How to carve this stencil
This is a cut-through stencil: the dark numbered regions on the printable pattern are the pieces you remove, and everything white stays attached. The numbers give you the safest carving order, and the steps below walk through them one by one. Plan on about 70-100 minutes from print to candle.
Set up first. Print the PDF at 100% scale on letter or A4 paper. Cut the lid at an angle, scoop the pumpkin clean, and thin the carving wall to about 1 inch where the design will sit. Tape the pattern on (snip small darts in the paper so it hugs the curve) and transfer every outline by poking dots along the lines, about one every 1/8 inch. Peel the paper away and carve dot to dot with short, straight strokes.
Carving order
- Cut the leaning eyes. Open both teardrop eyes marked 1. Follow the rounded lower ends and taper toward the upper inner tips. Keep the broad white space between them intact.
- Follow the stitched smile. Cut region 2 as one connected smile, including its uneven crossing stitch bars. Work around each short projection with separate strokes. Preserve every white gap between bars, and support the wide plug before releasing its final tab.
Clear loose fibers out of each opening as you go, and never twist or pry the blade against the shell; back it out and recut instead. When every region is open, wipe the cut edges dry and drop in a battery LED puck.
Tools you'll need
For a intermediate carve like this you'll want a x-acto knife, poker tool, ribbon scoop, and painter's tape. Here's the kit we reach for — start with whatever you already own.
Elmchee Pumpkin Carving Kit
13-piece kit with carrying case
Saws for the larger cutouts, plus a scoop for hollowing. Covers both jobs in one kit.
View on Amazon ↗
HOME MOST LED Pumpkin Lights
4-pack, battery operated, with remote + timer
Orange glow made for jack-o'-lanterns. The remote and timer light the pumpkin every evening without reaching inside.
View on Amazon ↗
Speedball 4131 Lino Cutter Set
Handle + 5 interchangeable cutters
Interchangeable cutters for peeling and shading the face. Useful for the finer details.
View on Amazon ↗
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Beginner-friendlyDrooping Eyes and Crooked Oval
Two drooping teardrop eyes sag above a tall crooked oval mouth, giving the pumpkin a permanently startled, wailing expression. Just three pierced openings make up the whole face, so it carves quickly while still looking delightfully unsettling after dark. Since the design relies on its lopsided character, transfer the pattern loosely and do not worry about symmetry; the wobble is the point.
IntermediateSwept Eyes and Melting Grin
A wicked jack-o'-lantern with two swept, flame-like eyes, a small notched nose, and an enormous melting grin whose edges drip and ripple across the lower half of the pumpkin. All features are pierced through, and the wavy mouth throws dramatic, uneven light. This is medium work with one long tricky opening, so carve the mouth in sections from the center out and leave the drippy lower points attached until the very end for support.
AdvancedSide-Glance and Stitched Grin
Two crescent-moon eyes glance slyly to the side above a small triangle nose and a mouth packed with a fence of narrow, uneven teeth. All openings cut through, and the row of skinny tooth gaps is what makes this a hard carve. Pierce and remove the little slots between teeth first, while the surrounding wall still supports them, then finish the big eye crescents and the mouth outline last.
AdvancedRound-Eyed Dripping Grin
A gleefully sinister face with huge round eyes topped by curling, hooked brows, a small skull-style nose, and an enormous crescent grin edged with thin dripping tooth spikes. Every element is cut through, and the narrow drip slits along the mouth are what earn the hard rating. Carve the big eye and mouth openings first, then cut the fragile tooth drips last with a fine saw so they do not snap.
AdvancedDouble Zigzag Flame Face
Jagged flame-shaped eyes glare above a huge zigzag grin packed with two rows of interlocking pointed teeth. Every eye, brow flick, and tooth gap is pierced clean through, leaving thin orange spikes of rind that read as fangs when the candle is lit. Those narrow tooth points are fragile, so cut them last, work from the tips inward, and support each spike with your free hand as you finish.