How I make folded batik Fabric Star Ornaments

I will describe how I make these stars. 

I start with batik fabric. Batik fabric has the advantage of being virtually the same on both sides. Technically there is a top and back side of the fabric but for the purpose of this project you won't see the difference. During the folding of the star the fabric strip will be twisted and turned in different ways revealing both the "top" and "back" of the fabric in the finished star. 

I prepare the fabric with a diluted clear acrylic wash. This will seal all the threads, prevent it from fraying and make it handle like a piece of paper.  I start by ironing the fabric to freezer paper to keep it flat and stable, then use a paintbrush to soak it with a 50/50 solution of clear acrylic gloss medium and water.  Do not use matte acrylic medium for this step. Matte gel medium will dull the color of the fabric but gloss medium will not. Also the gloss medium will not make the fabric look glossy. It takes several layers of gloss medium to make fabric look shiny so if you like the mat finish look this process will work for you. 

To make one star I use a piece of fabric that is about 20" to 22" long and about 3 1/2" wide. This is large enough to cut four 3/4" wide strips that will be long enough to make one 3-dimensional star.

That needs to dry 24 hours, then iron the treated fabric between parchment paper so the acrylic medium in the fabric won't stick to the hot iron or the ironing board. 

After ironing the fabric I cut it into 3/4" wide strips. I use a long plastic ruler and rotary cutter for this. 

Now cut the ends of each strip into points and fold the star.  You can see how neat the edges of the fabric strips are and the point will not fray.  It also helps that batik fabric is a fairly lightweight tightly woven fabric.  

I am not going to show all the steps for making the star because there are many sites (3D stars, German Paper Stars, German Star Tutorial Video, Moravian Star Instructions) that have instructions for folded paper stars. 

It's the Exact same process. 

Starting.

Ending.

Done.

At this point I seal the finished star with clear acrylic gloss medium. Depending on how glossy you want it to look you may need to do this several times. The initial wash of the fabric before cutting and folding and one coat using gloss medium after the star is made will not make the ornament shiny looking but it will seal it into form and make it stable. Depending on how glossy you want the final ornament you will need 2 or more layers of gloss medium. 

My final step is to punch a hole and make a nice wire hanger.  I begin by punching a small hole to put the hanger through. I have use something sharp like an awl to make holes in the past but I like the neat hole I get using the hole punch. 

Ready for hangers.

At this point I go to my wire and bead work space and add a copper wire hanger with glass beads to match the color of the fabric. You could also just use a decorative string, yarn or ribbon for the hanger. 

  

Blue batik Fabric Star Ornament with glass and wire bead hanger.

Thanks for reading. 

Aileen