Basic
Folds
On this page I will show you the basic technics for Origami.
Don't worry if you don't manage or understand how to do
one of the following folds at once. After having folded
some models you will know them all by heart. It's all a
question of practise.
Valley Fold
The valley fold is formed
by folding the paper toward oneself. An arrow shows where
to fold the piece of paper to.
Symbol: dashed line
Mountain Fold
The mountain fold is formed
by folding the paper away from oneself.
Symbol: alternating dashed
and dotted line
Petal Fold
The petal fold lifts a point
and brings it upwards so that the two edges of the point
lie together. It is best to prefold both layers of paper
along the shown valley and mountain folds before making
the petal fold.
The best example for this
fold is the Birdbase.
Rabbit Ear Fold
Prefold along the three valley
folds first. Then fold the two sides down to the baseline
(see arrows). Fold the top point to one side to make the
mountain fold. (Take care that you fold the top point to
the right side where the mountain fold is set.)
Squash Fold
Prefold both sheets of paper
along the valley and mountain fold. Then open the model,
fold one layer of paper along the valley fold and flatten
the model using the mountain fold.
The big white arrow tells
you to open the model.
(Inside) Reverse Fold
Prefold both sheets of paper
in both directions (mountain and valley). Then open the
model a little bit and bring the top point down so that
the mountain fold edge becomes a valley fold edge.
Outside Reverse Fold
It is similar to the inside
reverse fold except the layers of the paper have to be wrapped
around outside the point.
Crimp Fold
A crimp is used as a way of
incorporating two reverse folds to change the direction
of a flap or point. In most cases it is easiest just to
make two reverse folds one after the other (precrease both
folds before).
The lines next to the image
should show you how the layers lie after folding.
Sink Fold
The sink fold is a method
of blunting a point that has no open edges. The fold should
first be precreased. Then carefully open the model and tuck
the point inside. Flatten the model afterwards along existing
creases.
