Make an Origami Fabric Dress - A No Sew Craft Project

  
Offcuts, remnants, scraps, whatever you choose to call them, most of us have a whole stack of pretty little fabric bits that we just didn't have the heart to throw away. This project is perfect for working your way through your scrap box and these pretty little dresses have a variety of different uses, from bunting to birthday cards!
  

You will need:

A square of fabric, ironing board with a hot iron, pins (recommended as the fabric can move) a hot glue gun and starch.
Start with a square... any sized square... I started with a larger square for practice as small pieces can be fiddly until you’ve practiced folding, pining and ironing each fold.

Instructions:

 
  1. Start with a piece of fabric about 5 X 5 inches square (15cms in new money).
2. Fold the fabric in half so the “right” side of the fabric is inside. Iron the fold.
3. Open your square of fabric and fold the outside edges into the middle crease that you just ironed. Iron again. The “right”side of the fabric will be inside, the “wrong” side should be facing up.

4. Open your fabric and fold your outside creases in to meet the middle crease. Press well.

 

5. Turn your fabric over and fold in half, just a little short of halfway, about 1/2 inch (2.5cms)

 

 

 

 

6. Fold the shorter side down away from the opposite edge using about a 1/2 inch in between your last crease. Iron firmly.

 

 

 

7. This is what it should look like from the side. The shorter side will end up being the top of the dress and the longer end will be the bottom of the dress.

8. Use your finger to hold down the centre crease where the top of the dress meets the bottom of the dress and pull the bottom corner out until the fold is completely open. Iron it in place to create the pleats in the skirt. You might need your pins at this point!

 

 

 

 

9. Create the neckline by folding down the inner corners at right angles keeping it as symmetrical as possible. Press firmly. Fold over and press again.
10. Flip your dress over (wrong side up). Pull down in the centre of the top layer of fabric in between the creases you just made to create the neckline.
11. Fold in the sides of the top of the dress right up to the corner of the neckline. Don't worry about the bottom of the dress for now, you can tweak that later. Press firmly.
12. Now create a diagonal crease from the waistline to the very bottom of the dress so that it is completely open at the bottom. If you were to flip it over, it should look like this.

13. To create the cap sleeve from the backside make another diagonal crease from the waistline to the top of the neckline opening the top all the way and leaving the waistline folded completely in. Iron well.

14. Flip it over.....TaDa!!!
Trim any excess threads. Now here’s the really fun part.... Bling!! Ribbons, bows, sequins, tiny buttons... You can keep it simple or throw everything you have at your creation!
Your beautiful frocks can be used on cards, as bunting, to decorate memory boxes, to remind you of someone special or as a way to keep fabric that takes you back to a happy time or place.

If you are looking to top up on your fabric remnants then we often have remnant packs for sale here although they are super popular so you have to be quick to nab them when they are available!

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