Origami box

I have been trying out a bit of origami.

You see, the delightful Jay of Finki is hosting a monthly design challenge. The aim is to create a project to a monthly theme, using your own medium and interpretation. "Japanese" was the theme selected for the first month.

(Thankfully I have finished my contribution just in the nick of time on the 33rd of January.)

Its not a particularly original contribution, but I really wanted to try origami. I have never had any success with the art of paper folding. Flowers and cranes have baffled me; paper airplanes have plummeted to the ground. Paper is not my friend.

So I decided to try using something a little more familiar and forgiving: fabric. (Fabric doesn't rip like paper does. And it can be salvaged with an iron, when you put a crease in the wrong place.)



I chose a very simply project - a traditional little origami box called a Masu box. I began by interfacing a square and pinking the edges, so that it wouldn't fray. Then I got to work using the excellent diagrams at www.origami-instructions.com.



To start, I folded the square in half in both directions. I used my trusty iron to press nice crisp folds.



Next I folded the points in and pressed the folds again.



Then brought the top and bottom edges to the middle.



Followed by the left and right edges to the middle. Then I pressed it all again.



Following the instructions, I opened out the square, leaving just the points at the sides folded inward.



The next bit was a little tricky - its a sort of squeeze-flip-fold manoevere, that I suspect is common to all beautiful origami. You know ... all in the wrist action. My squeeze-flip-fold technique was a bit flawed, so this side of my Masu box is a little bit wonky.





I repeated the manoeuvre on the remaining side of the box.



Finished!

(And ready to be commandeered by Argy and Bargy who filled it with headless Lego men. Perhaps something from a a Manga story-line?)



With thanks to Jay, for hosting this challenge. To see some absolutely beautiful Japanese-inspired projects - including collage, sewing and jewellry-making - head over here.