How To Do Iris Folding

From Sherri Osborn, former About.com Guide

Now you need to cut your design window out of your cardstock. As you can see here, I cut out a simple heart shape. You can use any simple shape you like. Try something as easy as a square or circle or a fun shape such as a heart, shamrock, star, etc.

Make sure your design window is a little bit smaller than your iris template. My heart window is about 4 1/2-inches across.

You can simply use a pair of scissors to cut out your design window. I found that my Cricut Personal Electronic Cutter was the perfect tool for cutting many simple shapes. I used the Cricut Designer's Calendar Cartridge (compare prices) which offered this heart design and many other basic and fun shapes.

You will also want to trim down your cardstock to whatever size you want your finished design to be.

Next, we will cut our strips of paper/fabric...