I really love this sweet little iris folding bee. It’s a pattern that’s suitable for beginners and only needs a few colours. It’s the perfect craft if you’re looking to share the bee love on World Bee Day. World Bee Day is celebrated each year on the 20th May.
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This post will share with you a free bee iris folding pattern template for you to use. Terms of use can be found here. To find out how to iris fold check out this post.
Bee Iris Folding Pattern What You Need
Here’s a list of the supplies I used to make the bee cards. I’ve done a couple of different variations. One has a stick on eye whereas the other I’ve just drawn the eye on using a fine liner. I like to use the fine liner to add a couple more details like the legs and buzz trail too!
The card above I decided to do a little variation in the wings and alternate with a white and a lustre effect white. I love the texture that this brings to the card. I also gave this little bee a bronze bum!
Top Tip for Iris Folding Paper
The paper you use is important. You really want to use paper that is between 60-80gsm. This paper is quite thin but makes folds easier and ensures your card is not too bulky once complete. Origami paper is a good term to search for when looking for iris folding papers. When purchasing be sure to check on the size of the paper as origami paper can be very small.
Iris Folding Finds
I’m always on the look out for for iris folding resources. Here’s a few that we have that are good value:
Packs of interesting cards and papers are perfect for the centre of your iris folding designs. These can be thicker than what you’ve used in the rest of your design as there is no need to fold.
Card Blank or Mounted?
It’s entirely up to you if you’d prefer to work on a piece of card and then mount onto a card blank. You can work directly onto a card blank. Whatever way you choose you’ll need to make sure that you cut out the reverse of the shape onto your card as you work on the back of the design. If you decided to work directly onto the card blank then using a small paper insert inside the card will hide your working.
Take Care on the Wings
I’ve mentioned that this pattern is suitable for beginners – it is. It’s worth noting that the wings being close together mean you need to take care not to put tape over the second wing space as you are completing the first wing.
Complete one wing first then the other wing before going onto the body of the bee. This will give you good clean lines for the body/ wing division.
Free Bee Iris Folding Pattern
Use the download button below to get your free bee iris folding pattern. Y, B and W are used to denote the colours used but feel free to experiment and go with whatever colours you’d like. I’m very tempted to try a rainbow bee!
Find more free iris folding patterns here including heart, bunny and rainbow archway.
Busy Busy Learning Facebook Groups
Click on the links below to join groups. You will get access to the password for free members content on the site too.
Cutting Out Iris Folding Templates
When cutting out the bee you can use a cutting machine or you can use a craft knife. I used a craft knife for one of the cards and a Brother Scan N Cut for the other. Yes, the scan and cut is so much easier and quicker but it’s still simple enough to do with a craft knife and much cheaper.
Brother Scan N Cut Options
Cricut Options
(image from Cricut)
More Iris Folding Posts & Free Patterns
Check out more iris folding posts with tips and free patterns below. I’ve also recently started adding macrame tutorials – you can find those here.
