Essential Book of Origami The Complete Guide for Everyone

11 Valley-fold the top triangular flap of the right side to the left.

Repeat behind.

12 Use the existing valley creases to fold the large triangular flaps

over, one in the front and the other in the back.

13 Valley-fold the top right obtuse corner to touch the vertical

center crease, folding at an angle that will leave the top corner
slightly blunted. Notice where the fold stops at the top, marked by
the “X” arrowhead. Unfold. Repeat behind.

14 Unfold the front and back triangular flaps.

15 Valley-fold the left edge of the left-side triangular flap to align

with the vertical right edge. Repeat behind.

16 Move the top end of the triangular flap to the left, pivoting at

the point indicated by the “X” arrowhead, and squash-fold, forming
the front flippers. Repeat behind.

17 Wrap the top layer of the flipper over to the other side. Repeat

behind.

18 Mountain-fold the bottom edge of the flipper up and under while

valley-folding the vertical right edge of the associated lower flap to
the left edge. Repeat behind.

19 Move the top left half of the paper to the right and the back

right half to the left.

20 Your paper should look like this. Valley-and mountain-fold the

top corner, to prepare for folding the head and neck.

21 Your paper should look like this. Unfold.

22 Turn over, left to right.

23 First, notice the pentagonally-shaped crease outline, highlighted

in red. This area will become the dorsal shell. Lift the top layer of
paper up and to the right, mountain-folding it in half. Look ahead to
the next drawing for the shape.

24 (A) Install mountain and valley creases on the dorsal surface of

the shell that are detailed in step 25. (B) Move the top right layer to
the left, returning the dorsal shell to the center.

25 Detail for step 24-A: Pinch triple crease sets — valley, mountain,

valley — that span from the front of the dorsal shell to the back.
You should install five sets: one at the top center and two each, on

the front and the back sides of the model.

26 Move the top left half of the paper to the right and the back

right half to the left.

27 Use the existing valley creases to fold the large triangular flaps

over, one in the front and the other in the back.

28 Valley-fold the top edge of the triangular flap to the bottom

right edge. Repeat behind.

29 Valley-fold the bottom right edge of the triangular flap to the

top edge. Repeat behind.

30 Squash-fold the topmost triangular flap to form the hind flipper.

Repeat behind.

31 Use the existing creases to valley-fold the top right flap to touch

the center crease. Repeat behind. Valley-fold the flipper along the
vertical center, to the left. Repeat behind.

32 Valley-fold the indicated corner over to touch the vertical center

line, making the fold stop at the overlapping layers of the hind
flipper. Repeat behind.

33 Valley-fold the outer corner of the flipper over, making a single

folded edge that spans from the top limit to the bottom corner.
Repeat behind.

34 Move the top right half of the paper to the left and the back left

half to the right.

35 Crimp the head into the shell. Reform the leading edge of the

shell with an M-shaped mountain fold. Pinch the tail end of the shell
to rabbit-ear the point, making it slender.

36 Put your thumbs on top of the head and your index fingers into

the sides; pull open the paper to make the head rounded, upright
and three-dimensional. Gracefully mountain-fold the left and right
margins of the dorsal shell to make them rounded. Mountain-and
valley-fold the hind flippers with radiating pleats.

37 Turn over, left to right.

38 Gracefully mountain-fold the margins of the head, neck and the

plastron (ventral shell) to make them rounded.

39 Turn over, left to right.

40 The Leatherback Sea Turtle

Acknowledgments We wish to acknowledge Anne LaVin
for her generous contribution of her elegant origami
squirrel design. We thank our friends at the Honolulu
Museum of Art, Education Director, Aaron Padilla; and
hand paper maker / artist, Allison Roscoe, who helped to
make our origami art contribution to the exhibit,
“Less=More” at Spalding House such a grand success.
The Kondo and Miyatake families contributed in
countless ways and over many years. We must also
acknowledge the inspiring works of the late Akira
Yoshizawa, each skillfully infused with the spirit and the
love of the artist through his talented hands. We also
owe our gratitude to the late Lillian Oppenheimer, the
Grandmother of Origami in the USA, whose views about
teaching still resonate with hundreds of others like us
who continue to share origami with youngsters of every
age. We thank Elaine, Sidney and Donna Koretsky of
Carriage House Paper, for helping us gain command of
paper making fibers and pigments through their decades
of research, publications, workshops and materials.
Finally, we thank our steady and intrepid editor at Tuttle
Publishing, Jon Steever, for persevering with us through
so many original origami and folded art publishing
productions.

Richard L. Alexander and Michael G. LaFosse, Origamido

Studio

Published by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.

www.tuttlepublishing.com

Copyright © 2016 by Michael G. LaFosse and Richard L. Alexander

These origami models may not be used for commercial purposes without written
permission from the authors.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or
by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from
the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: LaFosse, Michael G., author. | Alexander, Richard L., 1953-author.
Title: LaFosse & Alexander’s essential book of origami: the complete guide for everyone

/ by Michael G. LaFosse and Richard L. Alexander, Origamido, Inc.
Other titles: Essential book of origami | LaFosse and Alexander’s essential book of

origami Description: Tokyo ; Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing, [2016]

Identifiers: LCCN 2016006735 | ISBN 9784805312681 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Origami.
Classification: LCC TT872.5 .L3325 2016 | DDC 736/.982--dc23 LC record available at
https://lccn.loc.gov/2016006735

ISBN 978-4-80531268-1; ISBN 978-1-4629-1887-4 (ebook)

Distributed by

North America, Latin America & Europe
Tuttle Publishing, 364 Innovation Drive, North Clarendon, VT 05759-9436 U.S.A.
Tel: (802) 773-8930 | Fax: (802) 773-6993
[email protected] | www.tuttlepublishing.com

Japan
Tuttle Publishing, Yaekari Building, 3rd Floor, 5-4-12 Osaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141
0032
Tel: (81) 3 5437-0171 | Fax: (81) 3 5437-0755
[email protected] | www.tuttle.co.jp

Asia Pacific
Berkeley Books Pte. Ltd., 61 Tai Seng Avenue #02-12, Singapore 534167
Tel: (65) 6280-1330 | Fax: (65) 6280-6290
[email protected] | www.periplus.com

First edition
20 19 18 17 16 5 4 3 2 1 1606CM

Printed in China

TUTTLE PUBLISHING® is a registered trademark of Tuttle Publishing, a division of
Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.

ABOUT TUTTLE
“Books to Span the East and West”

Our core mission at Tuttle Publishing is to create books which bring people together
one page at a time. Tuttle was founded in 1832 in the small New England town of
Rutland, Vermont (USA). Our fundamental values remain as strong today as they
were then—to publish best-in-class books informing the English-speaking world
about the countries and peoples of Asia. The world has become a smaller place today
and Asia’s economic, cultural and political influence has expanded, yet the need for
meaningful dialogue and information about this diverse region has never been
greater. Since 1948, Tuttle has been a leader in publishing books on the cultures, arts,
cuisines, languages and literatures of Asia. Our authors and photographers have won
numerous awards and Tuttle has published thousands of books on subjects ranging
from martial arts to paper crafts. We welcome you to explore the wealth of

information available on Asia at www.tuttlepublishing.com.