|
|
Shabby Fabrics' Origami Gift Box... |
I actually downloaded the pattern over two years ago, but every time I came back to it, I couldn't decide how to approach the project without buying some Heat N Bond Ultrahold, a double-sided heat activated adhesive that bonds together two fabrics without the need to sew them.
The stuff is priced at around $11 to $12 for me and as usual, I was loathe to go to that expense just to make a one-off item. On the other hand, if you're intrigued enough to want to make several of these, then you may want to purchase the actual Heat N Bond.
Since I wanted to feature this as part of my lead up to the holidays, I returned to it in late September to analyze potential alternative approaches.
My first thought was to piece it like I did with my
fabric match box. The final result would be sturdier (with the Peltex
foundation), but it would involve more sewing, and this project actually
started out as a "no sew".
The final decision was to experiment with my ever present supply of
Decor Bond.
|
|
A free pattern is always a bonus, but printing this one used up a lot of
paper! |
It's not dual-sided in terms of adhesive, but fabric glue can always come to
the rescue in such situations.
After cutting out a piece of Decor Bond using the template, I then
turned to my pile of discards to retrieve a couple of squares of fabric that
were saved from my
Shinto stool cushion
project. It's the original covering of the chair pads that I used. Yay for
recycling!
|
|
Place your fabric pieces right (or wrong) sides together... |
The template is not symmetrical, so one of the two pieces of fabric has to be
mirrored. Place your fabrics right or wrong sides together and then pin the
Decor Bond piece on top to use as a template for cutting.
|
|
After cutting, sandwich the Decor Bond interfacing between the
two pieces of fabric... |
After ensuring that all three pieces stack up properly, use fabric glue to
adhere one piece of fabric to the non-adhesive side of the Decor Bond.
Allow some time for the glue to dry. How you proceed afterwards (and in what
order) is totally up to you.
|
|
Apply fabric glue to non-adhesive side of Decor Bond... |
I decided to pin the remaining fabric piece in place and sew around the
perimeter with a tight (almost satin) zigzag stitch. Then I ran an iron over
the entire piece to fuse the Decor Bond and set the glue.
|
|
All sewn up... |
You can keep it as a "no sew" project and skip the zigzag stitch, but you'll
be taking your chances on how the raw fabric edges will perform over time.
The video tutorial went into some detail as to how to transfer markings from
the template onto the finished fabric piece in preparation for folding.
|
|
View of the bottom... |
However, I think that if you take time to examine the template and understand
what needs to be done, you won't need to draw actual lines anywhere. I merely
took it to my ironing station and pressed creases in the required spots before
starting to fold.
The box is able to keep its shape, so I would say that my
Decor Bond solution works sufficiently well. I did not hot glue the
little "tab" pieces at the corners, feeling that this should function as a
true origami structure for packaging a gift that can be unfolded, stored
flat, and reused. (With that in mind, I'd even say that you can make this
using fabric only on the outside; after all, wrapping paper is plain on the
inside.)
|
|
As far as origami goes, this one is easy to fold... |
Finished dimensions are a 6.5" equilateral triangular base with a 2" height.
(The template can be easily modified to make a shorter or taller box.)
Shabby Fabrics also has a template to make a similar, slightly larger
hexagonal box.
For holiday gift giving, I know exactly what I would put into my origami gift
box. For many, many years, I've made this super smooth, absolutely decadent
fudge using just two or three ingredients: a pound of high quality chocolate
chips, a can of sweetened condensed milk, and optionally, a couple of
teaspoons of your additive of choice — e.g., vanilla, a liqueur of some kind,
or strong coffee — or you can just use different baking chips like sea salt
caramel or Reese. Combine over low heat, pour into a pan and chill;
it's as simple as that.
That would be a handmade gift package appreciated by all.
'Til next...
No comments:
Post a Comment
You have the power to brighten my day. Leave me a comment; I'd love to hear your thoughts... you can even remain ANONYMOUS! And rest assured that I acknowledge all comments, either here or via email. (That is, if you don't see a response from me here, I would have responded privately to the person.) Spam or generic comments with unrelated links, however, are promptly removed... and I may take appropriate action or report you to Google. Thanks for reading! (✿◠‿◠)