How to fold an origami catfish
A kite folded in half and flattened long and low. Add a fin and a forked tail, flatten the face, then fold, snip and swing a thin belly wedge into a whisker.
You need: 1 square sheet (15 cm), dark olive on one side and white on the other, scissors and a black pen. Hard, 13 steps, about 25 minutes.
Steps
- Crease the middle. Olive side up, fold the top corner down to the bottom corner, crease, and unfold.
- Make a kite. Fold the two right-hand edges behind to meet along the middle crease, so the front stays olive.
- Fold in half. Fold the bottom half behind along the middle crease. The fold is the belly, the left corner is the snout.
- Flatten the back. Fold the top of the back down behind through all layers on a level crease 3 cm above the belly, so the fish is long and low.
- Snip the fin free. Snip along the new fold from the back tip of the hidden strip forward, about 3 cm.
- Swing up the fin. Fold the snipped end up behind on a low slant from the end of the snip, so a small fin sits on the back.
- Tail up. Fold the tail up through all layers on a crease 5 cm before its tip, slanting up toward the tip.
- Snip the tail. Snip 2.5 cm along the tail's folded edge from the tip, so its front and back layers come apart.
- Fork the tail. Fold the front tip down and back from the end of the snip. The back tip stays up, so the tail is a fork.
- Flat face. Fold the snout tip behind on an upright crease 2 cm from the tip, so the head is broad and flat.
- Fold up the belly. Fold a thin wedge of the belly up behind through all layers, on a crease from 7 mm above the bottom at the face to the belly 7 cm back.
- Snip the whisker. Snip along the new fold from its thin back end forward, stopping 1.5 cm from the face.
- Swing down the whisker. Fold the freed strip down behind on a slant from the end of the snip, so a long whisker droops back from the chin.
Whiskery!
Draw a small eye on the flat head and a wide mouth line at the front.