This chapter is for grown-ups. Kids and younger teens, the wood carving tool method in Scraping — With Wood Carving and Clay Tools will get you the same results. It’s much easier to control. Wearing gloves is strongly recommended throughout.
Now that your scrape line and saw hole boundaries are cut, it’s time to remove the skin from all the scraped areas on your stencil. You will want to double check your stencil here as you carve.
You want to avoid accidentally inverting the image, scraping the opposite wrong sections.
The technique. Use small circular cuts. Plant the tip of the knife lightly as a pivot point and sweep the blade in a short arc, with the cutting edge landing on the boundary line. This gives you precise control. It makes it much harder to accidentally cross into areas that should keep their skin. Take off small pieces at a time, working your way across each scraped area.
Start near the boundaries first. Work your knife cuts along the inside edges of your scrape line cuts and saw hole edges, removing the skin right up to the boundary. Once the skin is cleared close to the lines, use the same circular motion to remove it across the middle of larger scraped areas.
Be careful not to remove skin outside the scraped areas. The cut lines from Scrape Lines — With a Small Kitchen Knife and your saw hole edges are your natural boundaries. Be careful not to cross them.
Work through every scraped area on your stencil, checking against your printed stencil regularly to make sure you haven’t missed any sections.
Remember, rotate or lay the pumpkin on its side to keep yourself comfortable. Always cut away from your body and hands.
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