A few years ago Tammy whipped up several no-sew fabric star ornaments using leftover holiday fabric scraps. The project elicited lots of joy out of our customers. Several Thimbles quilters and sewists took the opportunity to bust through their own holiday fabric scraps to make ornaments as quick gifts, present toppers, and decor for windows and Christmas trees.
No Sew Stars by Sally Evankoe
These no-sew fabric ornaments are great for beginning sewists and quilters, or as a fun holiday project with the kids. Our detailed tutorial follows. We’ve also included a downloadable PDF at the very bottom of the blog if you’d like to save it for later!
NO-SEW FABRIC STAR ORNAMENTS
MATERIALS:
- Four 3.5” x 14” fabric strips in coordinating fabrics
- Scissors
- Iron (optional)
- Starch (optional)
STEPS:
- Starch fabric strips before folding—this is an optional step that will result in a crisper finish on your stars. Fold a fabric strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together.
- Reopen, then fold each raw edge of the fabric into the middle using the crease you just made in the middle as a guide. Press with iron if desired.
- Fold strip in half again lengthwise. Press fabric. Repeat for all 4 fabric strips.
- Fold each strip in half widthwise, bringing the short raw edge ends together. Press. Moving forward, we've numbered the strips for easy reference.
- Think of the following as if you are weaving with your fabric strips. Slide Strip 1 perpendicularly inside the folded end of Strip 2, leaving approximately 2” of Strip 1 peeking out of the top of Strip 2, like so:
- Slide Strip 2 perpendicularly inside the folded end of Strip 3 in the same fashion. Slide Strip 3 into Strip 4, and connect the whole piece by sliding Strip 4 into the folded end of Strip 1.
- Draw your fabric strips together, tightening the woven center without puckering the fabric.
- Fold top leg of Strip 4 back over the central woven piece.
- Fold the top leg of Strip 3 back over the central woven piece. Repeat this action for Strip 2.
- Fold Strip 1 back over the central woven piece, tucking it into the folded end of Strip 4.
- Once again, draw your fabric strips together by gently pulling on the legs, tightening the woven center without puckering the fabric.
- Fold the tucked in edge of Strip 3 under at a 45-degree angle. Then, fold back at another 45-degree angle, up towards the central woven motif. It should form a pointed triangle like so:
- Fold this piece in half, in towards central woven piece:
- Tuck the long end of Strip 3 into the end of Strip 2 to make your first star point.
- Turn your star in the making clockwise and repeat above steps 12-14 with Strip 4, tucking the end of Strip 4.
- Repeat this process for Strips 2 and 1. You should now have 4 star points.
- Turn your star over. Repeat the process with remaining fabric strips. You will likely have some longer lengths—trim as necessary with a pair of scissors to tuck them in more easily.
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Enjoy your no-sew fabric stars! Sew a piece of ribbon to use as a hanging decoration.
We also created a downloadable PDF if you'd like to save this pattern for later. Download it here!
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