How to Make an EPP Star Ornament with Diamonds

Instructions

1. First, gather your tools and supplies. I cut my fabric with an acrylic template (hard to see, but it's on the mat) and rotary cutter. This template came with a non-slip coating, but not all do, so I always like to have AppliGrips at the ready. When cutting smaller pieces with a rotary cutter, the sharp blade is closer to my fingers. I don't want my ruler/template to shift and cause an injury. I use a 28mm rotary cutter for these pieces as I feel it gives me better control. Not pictured here are the diamond-shaped paper pieces.
2. The rotary cutting template includes a 3/8-inch seam allowance (1/4-inch is also available, if you prefer) and measures 2 1/2 inches from one side to the other. That made it easy to use charm squares, folding each one in half and cutting two diamonds at once. I was able to stack and cut 6 diamonds at a time. Jelly roll strips are also a perfect fit for this template.
3. Cut all four sides of the diamond shape. With a small or revolving cutting mat, you can turn the mat to rotate the pieces for cutting, and they will stay perfectly aligned.

An alternative to rotary cutting is to trace the finished size paper diamond on the wrong side of the fabric and cut out with scissors, adding your preferred seam allowance. Use an erasable marking tool. The seam allowances do not have to be perfect, just as long as you have enough to fold over the edges all around the paper piece.

4. Cut 6 diamonds for each side of your star.
5. Arrange the diamonds into star shapes. This will help you keep track of the piecing order.
6. Center the paper piece on the wrong side of a fabric diamond. Do you notice the fold line on the paper? That's because I have used this paper piece before in another project. The paper pieces can be reused several times!
7. Now it's time to baste. The traditional basting method is to fold over the edges and stitch through the fabric and paper templates. Then you remove all the basting threads after stitching the project together. I prefer to baste with fabric glue.
   
   Place a line of water soluble fabric glue along one edge of the paper piece, just inside the seam allowance. Try to avoid letting glue wander over the edge of the paper - you will stitch along the edges and won't like stitching through the glue.
8. Fold the seam allowance over the edge of the paper and finger press.
9. Continue gluing and folding until you have covered all four sides of the diamond. Don't worry about the extra fabric at the sharp points - we'll get to that later.
10. After glue basting, your diamonds will look like this on the wrong side and the right side. Baste all 12 diamonds.
11. Here are all the basted diamonds, ready to join together as stars.
12. And here's part of the magic of making the extra fabric disappear at the points. When you nestle them together at the center, the extra fabric disappears on the back and the points stay sharp and crisp.
13. Thread your needle with 12-18 inches of thread. Yes, a shorter length than you might usually use. Then draw the thread through a thread conditioner.
14. Pick up 2 diamonds and place them right sides together.
15. Insert the needle at one of the points, inserting it between the folds of fabric to bury the knot.
16. Make an extra knot to secure the thread and whipstitch the pieces together along the edge. Keep the loose fabric at the point free from stitching.
17. Continue to whipstitch the edge with very small stitches, about 1/16-inch, catching about 2 or 3 threads of each piece. Knot the thread and bury the thread end when you finish whipstitching the side.
18. Finger press the pieces open and see your star begin to take shape.
19. Pick up the third diamond and stitch it to the first two in the same manner. Set this unit aside and stitch another unit of 3 diamonds to form the second half of the star.
20. When you have 2 sets of 3 stitched together, place them right sides together along the center and clip. Keep the extra seam allowance fabric free at the center.
21. Whipstitch the center seam from one side to the center, and secure with a knot.
22. Knot and begin stitching again on the other side of the center point, again keeping the loose ends free of stitches. Secure at the end with a knot and bury the thread end.
23. Finger press the star open and coax the loose fabric at the center into a swirl or pinwheel. Press flat.
24. Press again from the right side and admire your first star! Repeat the process with the remaining 6 diamonds to stitch a second star.
25. Now it's time to prepare the outer points before stitching the two stars together. It's a little fussy at this stage, but it's worth is to take the time to keep the points, well, pointy. At each outside point, there is a single layer of fabric sticking out. Trim away just that excess single layer - it's a tiny triangle.
26. Fold the remaining fabric back creating the fold along the edge of the diamond. Press.
27. Now turn the remaining fabric in along the other edge and press, forming the point.
28. Align the front and back of your star wrong sides together and insert the ends of your hanger at the top, forming a loop. A touch of glue helps to hold the hanger in place. The glue pen would work for ribbon, but my metallic rick rack needed a dot of tacky glue. Clip all around your star to keep front and back lined up during stitching.
29. Begin whipstitching the outside edge of the star together. Take a couple of extra stitches to secure the hanger. When you get to the points, use your needle to nudge any loose ends between the layers.
30. When you have stitched all the way around your star, knot and bury your thread end. Here's one side of the completed star, ready to take it's place on the tree! Add beads to the edge, if you like.
31. And here's the other side. I like ornaments with two "right" sides so they still look pretty if they get jostled and turned around.
32. The teal side on bright red:
33. And the white star on red:
34. Showing off some teal on the tree:
35. And a bright, shining white star to light the way: