English Paper Piecing - But 3D!
This tutorial will show you how to make a super cute 3D Star using English Paper Piecing techniques. These stars can be made with Mini Charm Packs or scrap fabrics and turned into ornaments to decorate your Christmas Tree. We’re going to be using cardboard to give the shape rigidity.
This tutorial assumes you know how to do English Paper Piecing. If you're a beginner I recommended checking out Handmade by Emily Jane's tutorial here. English Paper Piecing is one of my favourite quilting techniques because it is done by hand, which means you can grab a cup of tea and put something to watch and stitch away!
Download the template here
3D English Paper Piecing Materials & Supplies
My 3D English Paper Piecing Stars are just perfect for Mini Charm Packs! With a mini charm pack, you get a variety of coordinating fabrics from one collection. Each 2.5" square will yield you either one Pentagon or two Equitataral Triangles.
- Quilting cotton fabric scraps or a Mini Charm Pack
- Card Stock
- Glue Pen
- Fabric Marker
- Fabric Scissors
- Sewing thread
- Hand sewing needle suitable for English Paper Piecing
- A small amount of string/twine/yarn if you want to make it into an ornament
3D English Paper Piecing Star Instructions
First, you’ll want to print the template onto paper, then transfer the two shapes onto card stock to make your templates. If your printer can handle it, you can print these straight onto cardstock. I'd also recommend using a pen to mark the templates so they don't accidentally end up in a star!
If you already have some English Paper Piecing pieces the correct size and shape you could use these as templates instead!
You can then use these templates to draw out more shapes onto card stock and these become your paper pieces, you'll need two 1" pentagons and twenty 1" equilateral triangles in total to make one star. They won't be reused, so if you want to make extra stars you'll need to make more.
Place the card stock on the wrong side of your fabric and draw around with a fabric marker leaving a 1/4" border. Use your fabric scissors to cut out the fabric following the lines you have drawn.
Then using the glue pen on the overhang, smooth the overhang onto the card stock as shown in the photos. Do this to each edge until all the sides are glued down. Repeat this step for all the shapes. Sometimes in English Paper Piecing, you can thread-baste your shapes, but for these stars, I recommend sticking to glue.
Take ten of your triangles and pair them up. Places two triangles together, right sides together and whip stitch with needle and thread down one edge as you normally would when doing English Paper Piecing. This will make five diamond shapes, put these aside.
Then take your two pentagons and sew the remaining triangles to each edge to make two stars.
Take one of your stars, then add your five diamonds to the outside edges as shown.
Then take your remaining star and join it to the bottom as shown in the photo above.
You can then add your string if you wish to make the star into an ornament. I knotted my yarn and then sewed it to the inside of the star so that it pokes out at a star point.
As shown in the first photo bring together the edges, and whip stitch from the outside. Do this until all the edges are joined, making sure the string for hanging in on the outside.
All finished and ready to hang! I'm looking forward to seeing all the 3D English Paper Piecing Stars you make! If you share your photos, be sure to tag @flosscandyshop so I can see them!
There are other 3D shapes you can create using English Paper Piecing and I hope to post tutorials in the future.