Origami Christmas Ornaments

  We have been having a lot of fun here at Sew It Up Studio.  Last Saturday we had an ornament workshop and we thought it would be fun to share the directions with all of you. 
We still have a few kits left which include everything you need to make your very own ornament!

Origami Ornaments 

In your kit:

    A box of straight pins - at least 300
    120 two inch squares – at least 60 of each color
    3” Styrofoam ball
You might also like to use a thimble for pushing the pins and a small glass or the base of the pin box to hold the ball steady while you work. 
General Instructions 

After the base unit all of the squares will be folded the same throughout.  When pinning each row you will just pin the 2 outer corners.

 
Instructions for the Straight Row Ornament

First fold the light color in half and then half again to form a 1” square, finger press and unfold and lay it on the ball and pin each corner.
 You will used the pressed lines as placement lines for the next round.

Round 1
With the same color fold the square in half to form a rectangle then bring the corners to the center to form a triangle, finger press.  Lay this piece with the folded tip at the center of the base square with the edges along the previously pressed lines – pin at all three corners without pushing the center pins in completely. Repeat 3 more times until the base square is covered and all tips meet at the center.

Round 2
Using the other color fold as before and line up the tip about 1/8” lower and centered in the space between the previous row, repeat this 3 more times around.  Remove the center pins after round 2 is complete.
Round 3 to the end
Repeat round 2 changing colors for each round until you have covered the ball with about 13 - 14 rounds of each color.

To Finish
Take a square of the last color used and fold under 1/8” on all sides and pin over the raw edges at the top.  Pin a hanging loop and bow to the top.









Instructions for the Spiral Ornament

Fold the light color in half and then half again to form a 1” square, finger press and unfold and lay it on the ball and pin each corner.

Round 1
With the same color fold the square in half diagonally to form a triangle then fold again to form a smaller triangle, finger press. Lay this piece with the folded tip at the center of the base square with the edges along the previously pressed lines – pin at all three corners without pushing the center pins in completely.  Repeat 3 more times until the base square is covered and all tips meet at the center. 

Round 2
Using the other color, fold as before and line up the tip about 1/16” down from the center and centered in the space between the previous row, repeat this 3 more times around.  You will want to keep the folded edge on the same side for the whole ornament.
Round 3 to the end
With color 1 folded the same come down about 1/8” from the tip of the previous color , line up the edge with the round 1 piece and pin in place.  Repeat all the way around this row and then repeat row 3 alternating colors until you reach the other end about 13 – 14 rows of each color.

To Finish
Take a square of the last color used and fold under 1/8” on all sides and pin over the raw edges at the top.  Pin a hanging loop and bow to the top.

These ornaments will take about 2 hours to complete but it is a project that can be done with a group of friends or while watching a good Christmas movie!  Enjoy and as always

Happy Sewing and Merry Christmas,
Linda

The Pleated Twirl Skirt for Dolly

One of our most popular patterns is the pleated twirl skirt, we usually come up with a new kit every season.  The skirt is easy to make and so cute.  I decided that dolly needed one too so I developed the pattern for the 18" doll.



Cutting out:

Skirt- Cut (1) main fabric 4” x 31”

Yoke -  Cut (1)  4” x 14”

Skirt Ruffle- Cut (2) 2 1/2” x width of fabric

Top Ruffle- Cut (2) 1” x width of fabric

Sewing Notes: 1/4” seam allowances
Yoke ~ Sew short ends together . Fold in half to 2”, press. Topstitch 1/8” from the top folded edge. Topstitch again 5/8” from top edge. Using a seam ripper, open up the seam between the two rows of topstitching. This will be where you insert the elastic. Do not thread elastic through yet.

Skirt ~ Sew short edges together. On the top of the skirt, clip every 1 1/2”. With right sides together, fold the skirt fabric at each clip and stitch 1/2” away from clip and 1 1/2” down. Do this all around the top edge of the skirt. Press these open from the back so that they look like small box pleats. Run a gathering stitch around this same area. Gather softly to match the circumference of the yoke that you just finished. There will not be many gathers Pin and sew together.

Ruffle ~ Sew the two strips together; you now have a circle. Stitch a rolled hem (or satin stitch) along the bottom edge.  Gather the top edge to the circumference of the skirt. Pin to skirt. Sew. Serge seam.

Top Ruffle ~ Sew the two strips together at both selvedges (you      now have a circle). Stitch a rolled hem (or satin stitch) along both edges. Run a gathering stitch in the center. Gather the ruffle to the circumference of the skirt. Sew ruffle on the top of the skirt where the skirt meets the ruffle.

Thread a 15” piece of 1/4" elastic through the casing, fit it to the doll and sew the ends together.

Now dolly can match her girl!

Ruby Star Quilt

Ruby Star was one of the two quilts that we debuted at the Quilt Festival in Houston. Linda Davis, is one of the "Sew It Up Sisters". She designed the quilt using a charm pack from Moda's Ruby collection.  So, here's the pattern!

Ruby Star
by Linda Davis

Finished size 50” x 50”

Materials needed:
   1 Ruby charm pack
   1 ¼ yd white background fabric – I used Moda Bella bleached white

   1 yd red tone on tone for inner border and binding

   1 yd floral for outer border

   Batting 51” x 51”

   Backing 3 yds

I like having leftovers so my yardage requirements are on the generous side.

Cut (16) 5” squares from white fabric

Cut (16) 4 ½” squares from white fabric

Choose 16 charms for the star points

Draw a diagonal line on the back of each of the 16 charms then put them right sides together with a white 5” square and sew ¼” on each side of the line.

Cut on the line and press one toward the print and one toward the white.  Each of these half square triangles will need to be trimmed to 4 ½”.

Sew each pair together along the white edge with the prints forming a “V”

Choose 16 charms for the centers and trim each of these blocks to 4 ½”

Sew these squares into a 4 patch, this will be the center of the star.

Lay out your centers and your star points in a way that pleases you then sew a 4 ½”square to each end of the upper and lower star points

and sew the remaining star points to the sides of the four patch. You can then sew each row together; you will have 4 stars that are 16 ½” on each side.

Cut (5) 2 ½” strips of white and then cut 16 ½” strips, you need 10 and should be able to get two from each strip.

You need (9) 2 ½” squares for the cornerstones, so cut your remaining charms into 2 ½” squares and decide which you want to use.

Sew the sashing between each block to connect them and then sew a horizontal row with the cornerstones between and sew this to connect two rows of stars and then one on the top and one on the bottom.

Cut (5) 2 ½” strips of the red and join these end to end to make your inner border. Measure across the quilt and cut 2 pieces that length and sew them on and then measure across the other way and cut two borders that length and sew them on.

Cut (6) 3 ½” strips of the floral fabric, sew them end to end and measure and cut as for the inner borders and sew on the outer borders.
Your quilt is now ready to be layered with batting and backing and quilted. Use the remaining red tone on tone for the binding.

This makes a nice small quilt to layer on a table or cover  the end of a bed or the back of a chair.  If you want a bigger one just use more charm packs.