English Paper Piecing (EPP) Project Inspiration: Pentagon Drawer Sachets

Turn pentagons into items for the home, from sweet sachets to spherical pillows.

Photo © Alexandra Grablewski, excerpted from All Points Patchwork. All rights reserved.

A handful of these pentagon balls, filled with lavender or cedar shavings, makes a sweet little set of sachets to give as a gift. You can also make them from larger pentagons and end up with juggling balls, or use even larger pentagons to create baby toys. I can even see them made from very large pentagons to form very interesting pillows.

Need a quick English paper piecing refresher? Brush up on your EPP fundamentals here!

How to Make Pentagon Spheres

Try this method for creating stuffed spheres from pentagons.

Step 1: Join six pentagons into a flower shape. Then make a second flower.

Step 2: Join the sides of those pentagon “petals.” This creates a cuplike shape. Do the same with the other flower to make a second cup. Make sure both cups have their right sides to the inside.

Step 3: Orient the two cups so that their points nest together. Join them with a whipstitch, following along the zigzag line where the halves meet. (You’ll have to fold and even squash your work a bit as you navigate this seam. Don’t worry; you can’t hurt it.) Leave an opening for turning and stuffing.

Step 4. Remove the templates and gently turn the ball right side out. Stuff it with the material of your choice, and then sew the opening closed with a ladder stitch.

Project text and photos excerpted from All Points Patchwork © 2015 by Diane Gilleland. Photos © Alexandra Grablewski. All rights reserved.