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How to fold an origami darting dragonfly

Pleat a blue strip into a big head, snip the neck and fold the body slim into a long tail with pleated segments. Fold two pale strips into wide Vs of round-tipped wings.

You need: A 3.3 × 15 cm blue strip and two 15 × 4.5 cm pale blue strips; scissors, glue, a black and a white pen. Hard, 23 steps, about 30 minutes.

Steps

  1. Head pleat: top down. Stand the blue strip up, blue side up. Fold the top down on a crease 2.8 cm from the top.
  2. Snip the neck. Snip along the top fold from each side, stopping 4 mm from the middle. This frees the body to slim down while the head stays wide.
  3. Head pleat: back up. Fold the flap back up on a crease 4 mm lower. Above the ledge is the head.
  4. Slim the body. Below the head, fold both long sides behind, 7.5 mm from the middle, so the body is 1.5 cm wide.
  5. Taper the tail. Fold the sides behind again on long slants, from the edges 5 cm below the head down to 3 mm from the middle at the tip.
  6. Round the head. Fold the two top corners of the head behind on a slant, so the head is round.
  7. Round the cheeks. Fold the head's two bottom corners behind on small slants, so the head is a round ball.
  8. Tail pleat 1: up. Fold the tail up on a crease 9.4 cm below the top.
  9. Tail pleat 1: down. Fold it back down on a crease 2 mm higher, so a little ledge marks a segment.
  10. Tail pleat 2: up. Fold the tail up on a crease 11.3 cm below the top.
  11. Tail pleat 2: down. Fold it back down on a crease 2 mm higher, so a little ledge marks a segment.
  12. Back wings: a strip. Set the body aside. Take a pale blue 15 × 4.5 cm strip, white side up, lying across.
  13. Back wings: fold in half. Fold the top half down to the bottom edge, so it's blue on both sides.
  14. Back wings: round the tips. Fold all four corners behind on small slants, so both ends are round wing tips.
  15. Back wings: fold in half. Fold the left half over onto the right half.
  16. Back wings: slanted pleat. Fold it back out on a slightly slanted crease 4 mm from the fold, so the wings make a very wide V, tips down.
  17. Front wings: a strip. Set them aside. Take a pale blue 15 × 4.5 cm strip, white side up, lying across.
  18. Front wings: fold in half. Fold the top half down to the bottom edge, so it's blue on both sides.
  19. Front wings: round the tips. Fold all four corners behind on small slants, so both ends are round wing tips.
  20. Front wings: fold in half. Fold the left half over onto the right half.
  21. Front wings: slanted pleat. Fold it back out on a slightly slanted crease 4 mm from the fold, so the wings make a very wide V, tips up.
  22. Turn the front wings. Turn the front wings a little, so both tips sweep up and forward the same amount.
  23. Glue it together. Glue the back wings under the front wings, sweeping back. Glue the body on top, its neck just above the front wings.

Zip, zoom, hover!

Draw two huge eyes with white shines on the head, and a few veins along each wing.

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