Self-Closing Fabric Origami Twist Box

A self-closing fabric origami twist box in Robert Kaufman fabric...

In keeping with the name of this thing, it was a twisted and arduous road to get here, but I did it.

This little item — popped up as a recommendation to me during a YouTube visit — consumed my thoughts for a week and a half as I pondered how to make it work.

ATTN: If you have arrived at this post because you purchased plastic templates online, send me a message to let me know the name of the company you dealt with. They are distributing the contents of this post without my permission – i.e., stealing – and using my images and those of other crafters to sell their expensive pieces of plastic.

The accompanying instructions are sparse at best, so my first challenge was to understand how the box operates without actually seeing and touching one. Secondly, I definitely wanted to use Peltex to provide the internal support instead of the recommended card stock.

Although the written tutorial is somewhat lacking, the designer (Judith Magan) very kindly provides free pattern templates for the project (link at end of this post), so if you apply yourself, this is doable.

Twist box opened and fully extended...

Do I wish the explanation had been more detailed? Sure, no question. But I've always believed — for the most part — that there's no room for complaints when something is made available to the masses for free. (Therefore, suck it up and make it work, I told myself.) Besides which, the creator is obviously talented in the art of origami; needing to be skilled in writing sewing tutorials is certainly not a requirement for her area of expertise.

The good news is that if you find this intriguing, perhaps my additional instructions below will assist you in making your own fabric origami twist box.

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The box consists of two connected halves: a hexagonal box on the bottom and a pleated tube with a rim on the top. The rim is folded over the tube portion, which collapses downwards to close the box. It's a fabric version of a common paper origami project. (Have I mentioned before that I'm fascinated by origami?)

It's a hexagon shaped box that opens and closes via pleats sewn into the fabric...

The "mechanism" by which the box closes is entirely controlled by the pleats sewn into the tube portion. The bottom of the box can be made however you wish without affecting the final product. Since I most wanted to make that part differently, I decided to start with the top so that I could further ponder my approach to the bottom.

Make the Tube (Top Half)

The tube requires template pieces F (support piece for the rim), G (exterior fabric), and H (lining fabric). (Of the PDF template files, these are parts 4, 5, and 6.)

The first step is to cut fabric and transfer markings. The instructions tell you to transfer all markings to the wrong side of fabric pieces G and H, but as you will eventually sew the pleats from the right side of the fabric, it's questionable how useful those markings will be to you. By all means draw the seam allowance lines and the horizontal lines, however (the ones shown below in black), as they will come in handy.

Markings transferred to fabric pieces G & H...

With right sides together, sew bottom edges of both lining and exterior pieces with a 1/4" seam allowance. Press open.

Create a tube...

Create a tube by sewing together the sides of the resulting piece with the seam allowance indicated by the template; press seam open. Turn right sides out, folding along the sewn bottom seam of original pieces G & H and press well.

Turned with rights sides "out"...

Use template F (but omit the "glue tab" allowance) to cut a strip of single-sided fusible Peltex. Mark the lines per the template and use your rotary cutter to score along those lines; i.e., do not cut all the way through the Peltex (If you do cut through by accident, zigzag stitch the pieces back together.) Then zigzag stitch the two ends of the strip together to create a hexagonal ring.

Make a hexagonal ring out of Peltex...

There are three "sections" of the template that are meant to accommodate this ring on piece G and one on piece H. It's not entirely clear how this should be done, but if you use the fabric from piece G to wrap the Peltex and end up with a rim at the end, consider it a success. I ultimately used the fusibility of the Peltex to secure it to piece G and some double-sided seam tape to secure it to piece H.

However, do not permanently secure any of it until after you sew the pleats. (Use clips in the meantime to hold everything together.)

Use clips to hold the rim in place for now...

The diagonal pleats are to be sewn first, to the right side of piece G. The immediate challenge for me was how to mark the fabric so that I could be sure that the pleats were properly spaced. I ended up making myself a template out of a clear plastic cutting mat based on the repeating rectangles from G/H.

Clear plastic template...

I cut a slit into the template and used it to mark the the diagonal lines on piece G; the edge of the template marked the straight lines on piece H. Important: ensure that the top end point of each diagonal line matches up with a corner of the hexagon rim.

To mark the bottom boundary of these lines, regular transparent tape came to my rescue.

Diagonal pleats pinned; tape on the bottom tells me where to start/stop sewing...

Two things to keep in mind about these pleats: keep them as small as possible and ensure that both layers of fabric are included in the fold. You will definitely need to pin first.

Pin and sew the straight pleats from the lining side...

When sewing each straight pleat on the lining side (H), do not sew past the end point of the diagonal pleat that meets up with it near the rim. (This ensures a tidy looking top.)

Once the pleats are done, you can use double-sided tape or fabric glue to finish off the rim. Ensure, however, that the rim itself stays a "rim"; i.e., you must be able to put your fingers under that edge because it eventually has to slide over the top part of the box, as shown below.

View of closed box bottom...

After a couple of days of working on the tube part, I had decided on my approach to the bottom box part of this project. (By the way, I was just being slow. It takes nowhere near two days to make that tube.)

Make the Box (Bottom Half)

The box requires template pieces C (cut two), D & E. (Of the PDF template files, these are parts 1, 2, and 4. My way of making this did not require use of templates A & B, which is found in PDF file part 3.)

Cut fabric using templates C & E. Transfer markings and sew a small seam along one edge of piece E as indicated.

With right sides together, sew the bottom of piece E to one of the C pieces. (Sew with piece C on top so that you can bend the straight piece E to follow the hexagon shape.)

C sewn to E...

After piece C has been attached, sew together the two ends of piece E to form a tube.

Pin and sew together the open ends of piece E...

Take template D and use it to cut a piece of Peltex. (If you trace around the template with a pen, cut inside the line to ensure that the Peltex is not too big.) Score along the hexagonal edges on the fusible side.

Use template D to trace a Peltex base for the bottom of the box...

Take the other fabric piece C and center it on top of the fusible side of the Peltex piece. Carefully fuse into place. (Use a scrap piece of fabric to protect your iron from the exposed side panels as you go; just peel that fabric away when you're done.)

Fabric C (this will be the bottom of the box) fused onto Peltex...

Now the assembled piece E & C can be slipped on top of this. Be sure to align the hexagonal edges of the fabric correctly against the Peltex side panels on the interior. The fit should be snug. (Once you're satisfied, you can also fuse the exterior fabric to the underlying Peltex.)

Bottom of box with fused piece C...

By the way, this makes a cute little project all on its own. A little box like this has tons of potential uses.

This makes a useful container all by itself... 

Finishing this off requires some unavoidable hand sewing.

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The bottom of the tube needs to be sewn into the bottom of this box, in such a way that when you raise the rim to open the box, the whole bottom box lining doesn't come up and out.

Side view...

One possible solution is to glue the bottom lining of the box to the (non-fusible) side of the Peltex. Another possibility is to sew the bottom inside edge of the lining to the outside, following the original seam line. The bottom of the tube can then be glued or sewn to the lining of the box.

View of the interior...

I won't bother making a recommendation one way or the other; this last step is up to one's personal preference. As to how I finished mine, I actually hand sewed the tube to the lining to the bottom of the box in one step. It was tricky, but it didn't require a lot of actual stitches, just a few anchoring stitches at appropriate spots.

Comin' down and closing...

For a first attempt, my box is nowhere near perfect, of course. (It doesn't close smoothly with just a light press of the fingers, but I think my choice of fabric for the lining — maybe not thin enough — had something to do with that.) I'm happy to have figured it out and if I ever need to do it again, I know where to make improvements and now have my own set of instructions.

The YouTube video — which only demonstrates how the box works; i.e., it's not a video tutorial of the construction steps — can be found here. In the description area of the video, you will find a link to the designer's website where she has posted her tutorial, along with a link to a ZIP file of the six PDF template files.

And if you're just as fascinated by fabric origami as I am, check out my other related posts.