Do you know origami, the Japanese art of folding? Did you know it’s possible to get inspired by this ancient technique meant for paper to create pretty fabric creations?

Today we are going to offer you to make our beautiful origami butterflies that bring lots of color to the shop’s decoration! We made about twenty and many of you came to the store asking for the tutorial to make them at home. 

So here is the tutorial!

What is origami?

Origami is the art of paper folding and is very popular in Asia. It is accepted that Japan contributed the most to the perfection and art of paper folding. By the way, the word origami comes from Japanese and is a contraction of two words: the verb "orimasu" meaning to fold and the word "kami" meaning paper. It’s a popular art that children even learn the basics of at school, we fold them as a family, create garlands... in short, it’s a daily art for many Japanese. 

The goal of origami is to create many clever folds using a simple sheet of paper to form a recognizable shape: butterfly, rabbit, or the most famous: the crane. Note that cutting and gluing the paper is forbidden; we are truly in the art of folding!

So why not get inspired to create pretty fabric patterns?

In the seamstress’s basket

To make lots of small origami butterflies you won’t need much material 😊 because it’s really a small project that allows you to use up your little fabric scraps. This is truly what I call upcycling without greenwashing! Greenwashing is the art of making people believe something is ecological/recycled/good for the planet when the approach is mainly marketing. Anyway, here the goal is to "maximize" the use of the small scraps you already have!

At the workshop, we give courses that generate quite a few small scraps that we had fun matching color by color to create the most colorful (but also coordinated) butterflies possible! We disturbed the workshop a bit on this occasion by turning over the scrap bin 😂 but it was for a good cause! 

Here is the list of materials:

• fabric (2 coordinated cotton popelines by butterfly or leftover scraps quite thin)
• some good quality matching thread
• a washable marker
• some pins
• a sewing machine
• a good iron because you’ll need it quite a bit for this tutorial

To this list, you can add, if you like, brooch backs to create a beautiful butterfly brooch that will brighten up jackets, little girls’ dresses...

You can also add key rings to create a summery keychain or attach it to a basket/bag.

Finally, another option is to sew them onto a headband or scrunchie to create original hairstyles. 

In short, be creative! 

The tutorial

1. Create the pattern

The pattern is very simple because it’s just a rectangle! For easier handling, I suggest making your pattern from flexible cardboard. It will be easier to draw your cutting lines with a washable marker. 

The measurements for our butterflies are: 11 by 15 cm including seam allowances

2. Cut your pieces

For each butterfly, cut two matching fabric pieces. If you want to make many, I suggest cutting them all at once to save a lot of time. 

3. Assemble the pieces

Place your two rectangles right sides together, pinning them while leaving a small opening on one side. 

Topstitch along the edges of the rectangle without stitching over the small opening!

Trim the corners and turn your butterfly right side out, pushing out the corners well, then press carefully. 

Close the opening with an invisible stitch. 

4. The folding

The folding is done with an iron to firmly crease the folds. We made a little video to make it easier. 

Once folded, you can sew on a thread, ribbon, cord... whatever you want to attach your butterfly. This is also the step where you can attach the brooch backing...

We created our butterfly tree at the checkout 😊. 

So, these butterflies? Interested? It's also a great project to do with children. 

Get your needles ready!