Folded Fabric Ornaments made by Connor and Beth Ann Williams
More Christmas in July! In my last post, I gave a step-by-step overview of the process of making the triangular ornament shown in the photo.
I first stumbled across these lovely and unusual fabric ornaments on a post by Katrina, a sewist in New Zealand, at katrinastutorials.blogspot.com. The links below will take you to her original posts.
After a Google search, I also found this youtube video by Crouton Crackerjacks.
I’ve since found these ornaments in a few other places, but I think the links above are the best.
You can see my step-by-step photos of the process of making the triangular ornament here.
Now let’s look at the process for the 4-Petal Circle-to-Square ornament step by step:
Cut two matching circles of fabric. Ours were just about 7.5 inches across. Saucers make great templates!Place the fabrics right sides together and sew around with a 1/4″ seam, leaving an approx. 1″ opening for turning.Turn the fabrics right side out and neaten the fabrics at the opening. Press to flatten. Topstitch all the way around with a 1/8″ seam allowance. This will close the hole. (We used cream thread in the bobbin and monofilament in the top so that this stitching wouldn’t show in the finished ornament.)Fold the circle in fourths and make a sharp crease at each fold. Bring two opposite creases together and tack with a few hand stitches. We recommend keeping the thread continous from here on out, but we knotted and cut the thread for the step-outs used in the photos.Catch the fabric at the other two crease points and tighten the thread to bring all 4 points together. Knot the thread so that it doesn’t slip, but don’t cut it.Fold the fabric back to form “petals” of the contrasting fabric. The photo shows this in process – two of the four petals formed.Gently manipulate the folded fabric petals until they are more or less equal in size.With the same thread, sew a button or charm to the center of the ornament. Knot and cut off the thread. Add a loop of thin ribbon or metallic cord at the top for hanging.
Once again, Connor and I used metallic fabrics for these samples, but these ornaments also look great in other fabrics. Get a more old-fashioned look with nostalgic or “country” looking prints, or go for graphic whimsy with fun little polka dots or other trendy textures.
When health challenges made hand-sewing (and hand appliqué and hand-quilting) no longer physically viable for her, Beth Ann’s first instinct was dismay and discouragement. But Grandma Baldwin gave her a loving (but stern!) “No pity parties – just figure out a different way.” So Beth Ann turned to her trusty sewing machine and began devising ways to achieve the fine quality appliqué look she craved faster and easier than she ever thought possible. And a career was born!
Now Beth Ann enjoys sharing her accessible “invisible” machine appliqué and creative machine quilting techniques with other quilters and fiber artists around the world.
