Kimekomi Christmas Balls

For my contemporary quilt group I gave a quick demo at our Christmas party on how to make festive baubles for the tree. I saw this crafty tip years ago and the results are getting a little grubby, so I decided I needed to up my game and make some new ones.

First I used liberty, Japanese, Kaffe and batik fabrics but then moved on to more festive fabric to go with my purple and silver themed tree.
For instructions see below...

You need…

Polystyrene ball or egg

Fabric

Ribbon

Glass headed pins

Scissors

Seam ripper or butter knife

Craft knife

Skewer

Black sharpie pen

Using the pen mark off divisions on the ball. First mark the north and south pole using the factory marks. Mark equal divisions around the equator and then draw the longitudinal lines to give 8 segments

Carefully cut into the ball using the craft knife, along all the lines to a depth of about ½”

Cut shapes of fabric that are ¼” larger on all sides than the segment. I eyeball the size and shape of each segment but you could make a paper template first.

Pin top and bottom of each fabric piece in place and using the seam ripper or butter knife push the fabric slightly into the cut lines. Don’t push in completely. This will show you the extent of the shape

trim any excess fabric away before pushing the fabric down into the cut lines. Use a skewer to push in corners and points

cover the ball completely with fabric.

Decorate by adding sparkly wool along the joins (I tuck the beginning and end of the wool into the cut lines to secure) and add pretty pins at the points (covers up untidy joins).

Glue a pin and ribbon at the top for hanging

Google Kimekomi polystyrene balls to see all the amazing variations you can make. Just mark different lines with your sharpie pen…