How to Fold an Origami Shirt Bag - for Father's Day, Xmas or Birthday Parties!

This past Christmas I made an origami shirt advent calendar to display on our upcycled sleigh. By making mini gift bags, they are perfect to add treats to so you count down the days until Christmas! You can of course save this idea until next Christmas. However, you don't have to wait. Make it with a larger piece of paper and glue on a paper tie. Then you have the perfect gift card holder for Dad on father's day! Or make a bunch for a kids birthday party as giveaway bags. The possibilities are endless so be as creative as you like.

Be sure to watch the video to see how it's done step-by-step. And don't be intimidated by the written tutorial and number of pictures in this 'Ible; I detailed every step to help you learn :). Once you've done a few, you'll find it much easier and will be flying through it in no time!

* [If you’re looking for some of the things we used, we’ve got you covered (disclosure): Clicking on the affiliate links below means we may receive a commission. But don’t worry, you don't pay a cent more and it helps us make more unique crafts to share with you! Thanks for helping to support our blog!]

For this project, you will need:

• Old Sign Stencils – Antiques Stencil
• Paper or brown craft paper for practicing
• Grid Ruler
• Paper scissors
• Prismacolor pencil crayons
• Pencil
• Scrubby Sparkle yarn in multiple colours
• Mini coloured clothes pins
• Upcycled frame of choice for advent calendar display
• Lightweight plaid fabric (if making the fabric version)
• Reynolds freezer paper (for fabric version)

I practiced on brown paper to get the hang of it. Make any size you wish. But it really all depends on what you’d like to put in your mini shirt bags.

You can stick with brown paper for your finished project. As for me, I’m switching to colourful paper for this advent calendar!

However, for that extra cute factor, you can actually make these adorable mini origami shirt bags with fabric (more about that later)!

I’m using a variety of colourful upcycled paper we found in my Dad’s office. Why he had such a big pile of colour paper is beyond me, but it makes for great crafting!

We’re starting with an 8″ square but you can make this bigger if desired - or even use a full sheet of paper - it doesn't have to be square. Once you learn how, have fun and experiment with different sizes and shapes.

Fold paper in half from top to bottom and crease.

Bring the lower edge to the top edge, but only make a small crease at the edges.

If making an advent calendar, this is where you can add the numbers. Use a number stencil, like this one that is part of the Antiques Stencil from Old Sign Stencils. By the way, I’ve used the Antiques stencil itself for this refinish a coffee table diy and this milk can decor, so it comes in handy for more than just numbering!

If you happen to forget the numbers (like I did on the video), you can add them at the end. But it’s much easier to do while the paper is still flat.

Approximately 2″ down from the centre fold, make a faint mark.

Line up the top of the number stencil to the mark and outline in pen.

Then fill in with a coloured pencil, like this silver one. You can get fancy and do drop shadows, or go simple and just use a marker instead.

Alternately, if making this for father's day, you can write 'Happy Father's Day' instead or leave it blank.

Flip the paper over and pinch along fold in centre.

Bring the fold to the crease marks and press down.

Fold bottom edge up to top edge.

Press along edge.

Fold back down and press pleat downward.

Turn right corner of pleat up to horizontal line to form a triangle.

Do the same on the left side.

Open out paper flat.

Flip paper over and fold in top and bottom as shown.

Note: If making the fabric version, you won’t be flipping the paper over to do this step; it’s done on the same side.

Leave folded and flip over, turning 90 degrees. Bring bottom edge to just underneath the point of the triangle and press along the bottom edge.

Fold back down and turn 180 degrees. Again, bring bottom edge to just underneath the ‘V’ of the triangle as shown, press andd fold.

Bring top edges together, pinch top fold and bring down to meet bottom fold.

Press along edge to fold.

The 3rd pic shows how it should look with the number.

Fold down and open as shown (number is now on the opposite side).

Fold right side into the centre. 

Bring the lower horizontal fold down to meet the outer edge.

As you bring the edges together crease to form a triangle as shown. Finger press right along into the corner.

Open right side out. Now do the same on the left side: fold the left side toward centre, bringing the lower horizontal fold together with the side by pushing down toward the left edge.

Folding the sides of the bag for origami shirt Finger press along the inside into the corner to form a diagonal fold. Open left side out.

Turn 180 degrees and repeat the same process along the right and left sides.

Open and turn 90 degrees. On the lower righthand side, make note of where the centre line.

Fold the bottom edge up, then fold the upper edge back along the centre line now underneath. Crease the paper to approx. 3/4 of the way across, stopping when you get to the diagonal line.

Pre folds for collar of origami shirt Turn 180 degrees and fold the paper upward. This time, we’re working on the lower left side. Again, make note of where the centre line is underneath, then fold the upper edge back along where the line is underneath. Crease the paper to around 3/4 of the way across, stopping when you get to the diagonal line.

When you turn the paper 90 degrees counter-clockwise, the last picture shows how it should look:

Now take this opportunity to fold the two lines you just did in the opposition direction and re-crease the folds (you can also do this later, but I find it easier to do now).

Open and turn 180 degrees so you’re working on the opposite end. If the centre is cover hidden, open it out so you have 3 column showing. Now fold the bottom right corner 45 degrees to form a triangles.

Do the same on the left side.

Two triangles done.

Fold the bottom edge upward so you’re creasing from the point of the ‘V’. Crease along that edge out to the sides.

Press well to fold.

Fold back down. Now fold in the left side as shown. Then fold back along the dotted line.

Finger press into the corner.

The side should look like the third picture, forming a triangular gusset.

Put back down on the table and fold in the right edge in the same manner. Push upward so the triangle meets the edge along the side.

Finger press into the corner.

Turn the work 90 degrees counter clockwise. Push outward against the two gussets just formed. 

Now, fold the bottom edge upward so the triangles on the sides are pointing outward in opposite directions as shown.

On the left side, fold along the diagonal to bend back the tip and press down.

Fold down to meet the right outer edge and finger press. Open. Now, bring the right side over the left. Fold the tip extending from the diagonal as you did on the left side. You have now formed the bottom of the bag. Turn 90 degrees clockwise. If you didn’t do it in the previous step, refold the two edges shown so they fold.



Now we’re folding in the left edge to form the side of the bag.

Fold along the diagonal, pinching along the edge.

Do the same with the other side. 

Turn toward you. Bring the two folds together in the centre.

Fold the bottom edge upward in half as shown.

Now fold the top edge in half in a downward direction and finger press each side separately if too thick.

Open the fold downward.

Bring the bottom right corner up to the centre. This forms the collar. Turn to the other side.

Similarly to the other side, bring the bottom left corner up to the centre to meet in the middle. Finger press.

Turn 90 degrees to the left. Bring the bottom section up. Then tuck the points of the collar over the edge to hold the bag closed. All done!

Here’s how the bag should look from the front and back.

Now make 23 more to create an advent calendar, numbering each one.

Pop a bag open to put in some treats. Of course, you could tuck in the obvious choice and use sweets. But if you have a budding fashionista in the family, or want to keep with the fashion theme, put in sewing findings such as bobbins Or these Thread Mates. They are invaluable for keeping the bobbins and tread together!

I’d love to know: what do you put in YOUR advent calendars?

You can turn this mini shirt into an actual fabric bag - with one simple trick! But you'll still need paper - freezer paper!

I cut up a pair of old Christmas pj’s for this fabric version. However, it’s best to use a lighter weight fabric so it’s easier to fold.

Heat up an iron. Then Iron on a piece of freezer paper, shiny side down. The shiny side is plastic and will stick to the fabric once heated.

Cut around the edge with scissors.

Fold exactly like the step-by-step Instructable above.

Since the fabric / freezer paper combo is thicker than just paper alone, you will need to iron some of the thicker parts so they stay in place. Especially if you upcycle Christmas pj’s like I did!

When you iron, pay particular attention to the collar.

And also iron the bottom to keep the sleeves nicely creased.

Gather all your origami shirts.

Because this calendar is popping with colour, I cut lengths of Scrubby Sparkle  yarn in the colours shown above. I love sparkle yarn and even used it extensively for my crochet coral reef!

Tie them onto your frame of choice. Since, the width of the frame will determine how many shirts you can hang on each line, I’m doing a test run here. Then add colourful mini clothes pins.

You could easily display the whole calendar on an upcycled Sleigh by stringing them on as we did in the previous step. But in order to show you another cool advent calendar display idea we saved the other 12 for this washboard decor idea that sits on the shelf :).

I hope you found this Instructable helpful and would love for you to try our origami shirt advent calendar. I can't wait to hear about how you would adapt it, so leave me a comment.

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