Pumpkin Carving for People With Taste: Designer-Inspired Pumpkins to Try This Weekend

The pumpkin is the fabric, so pick it like one. Pale varieties such as white Casper or the dusty blue-grey Crown Prince look instantly more considered than bright orange, and they show carving beautifully. Flat, squat heritage pumpkins have more surface to work with. Look for a firm stalk and no soft patches, and carve no more than three days before Halloween if you want it to last.

Farm shops and pick-your-own patches have the best choice. Supermarkets do the job for classic orange. Cut the lid from the back or the base, not the top, so the stalk stays intact and the design reads cleanly from the front.

The quilted one. A nod to the classic quilted handbag. Score a diagonal diamond grid into the skin with a lino cutter, without cutting through. Lit from inside, the grooves glow softly. Add a gold chain draped around the stalk for the full effect.

The woven one. Inspired by the intrecciato leather weave. Carve alternating short horizontal and vertical slots in a basket pattern. It takes patience, but it is the most impressive of the lot.

The pearl one. No carving at all. Push faux pearl-headed pins into a white pumpkin in a scatter or a neat necklace line. Very Simone Rocha, very easy, and it lasts for weeks because the skin is never cut.

The bow. Tie a wide black satin or velvet ribbon around the stalk in a generous bow. Bows have been everywhere for two seasons, and this is the simplest pumpkin you'll ever do.

The check. Score a heritage check in fine lines, then go over a few with black paint pen. Recognisably British and smart enough for a front step in Chelsea.

A proper pumpkin carving kit with a small serrated saw is far safer than a kitchen knife. A lino cutter from Hobbycraft is the secret to the quilted and check designs, because it scores the skin cleanly without slicing through. An ice-cream scoop clears the inside quickly. For the pearl pumpkin, Etsy sells pearl-headed pins in bulk. Trace your design first with a washable felt tip so you can wipe away mistakes.

Battery tea lights are safer on a doorstep with trick-or-treaters and costumes trailing past. Warm white looks far nicer than cold white. If you use real candles, cut a small chimney hole in the lid and never leave them unattended. Scored designs need a brighter light inside to glow through the thicker flesh, so use two or three lights rather than one.

Scrape the inside walls thin and clean, then wipe the cut edges with a little diluted bleach or lemon juice to slow mould. A thin layer of Vaseline on the cut edges stops them drying and shrivelling. Bring it inside on very cold nights, as frost turns pumpkins to mush, and keep it out of direct sunshine during the day.

Roast the seeds with olive oil and sea salt rather than binning them. The flesh makes a good soup, though carving pumpkins are watery and best mixed with butternut squash. Compost what is left on the 1st. Then turn your attention to the bigger question: what to wear on the night. Our costume guide has the answers.