Origami With Fabric

People usually think of the art of paper folding when they hear the word “origami”.  However, this page is devoted to origami with fabric!

Yes, you can do origami with fabric!

These beautiful folded fabric designs found below, like the fabric origami butterfly, the fabric origami box, and origami bag are just a few of the origami with fabric designs found on this page!

What are the six types of common fabric origami?

Fabric origami is divided into the six basic types below:

• General fabric folding: Some of the usual origami paper designs cannot be used in fabric origami since the soft material does not hold a good crease.  Most who make origami with fabric treat it with a fabric stiffener first.
• Towel folding:  This is another type of fabric origami where creative towel designs are made, most often of animals.  These origami towels look great in a guest bathroom. Because a towel is usually shaped into a rectangle and has a soft texture, some traditional fabric origami designs can be difficult.  Using a washcloth helps with need for a square, and some use rubber bands to hold the fabric origami designs.
• Napkin Folding:  Can you make origami with napkins?  Fine dining restaurants often fold their napkins into lovely origami fabric designs. Scroll down to find a wonderful tutorial for creating a Christmas tree napkin for the holidays! If you are hosting a formal dinner or a wedding, a creatively made design out of fabric napkins makes for a sophisticated table setting.
• Origami in Quilts:  Modern quilters will sometimes make origami with fabric and sew the design onto a quilt with the applique technique.  This adds a special design element to their quilts.
• Clothing: Fabric origami can be used for clothing and accessories.  Below are origami bags, pouches and shapes such as fabric origami butterflies and flowers that can be added to accessories such as hair scrunchies.
• Toys: Fabric origami can be used to make simple toys for children, such as a folded washcloth during bath time or even puppets out of diapers!

How do you make a fabric origami realistic butterfly?

Butterflies are a common design for fabric origami.  They are most often small and can be made with smaller pieces of fabric scraps the sewist may have in their stash!

A fabric origami butterfly is most beautiful and can be used to decorate hair clips or scrunchies, as clothing decoration, and even as an addition to a quilt.

There are many links below to fabric origami butterflies that are simple to create.

It is possible to add lovely bits of lace to the butterflies, and some crafters even add beads for the eyes in the butterfly wings.  Adding an antenna is something that can be done as well to adorn these sweet fabric origami butterflies!

Fabric origami is usually easier to do than paper origami because there aren’t as many folds.  This is due to the fabric becoming hard to handle as it gets thicker with folding.

If you like origami, scroll down to find beautiful and simple fabric origami projects!  You won’t be disappointed!