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How to fold an origami sheep

Fold a black square into a body with thin tapered legs and a swung-up neck with a folded head. Pleat a cream sheet into rows of wool and fold its corners round for the fleece.

You need: An 18 cm square, black on one side; cream paper 15 × 8.25 cm; small scissors, glue and a white gel pen. Hard, 20 steps, about 35 minutes.

Steps

  1. Hem the edges. Black square, white side up. Fold the top edge down 1.65 cm and the bottom edge up 1.65 cm.
  2. Fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge, hems inside. The fold at the bottom is the belly, the hemmed edges on top the back.
  3. Crease two strips. Fold the top edge down 1.65 cm through all layers, and the bottom fold up behind 3.75 cm. Crease both hard.
  4. Open them. Unfold both strips again.
  5. Crease the legs. Fold each end over on an upright crease 2.25 cm in from its edge, and crease hard.
  6. Open them. Unfold both ends. The creases mark the inside edges of the two legs.
  7. Three small slits. Cut up both leg creases from the belly fold to the bottom strip's crease. Cut along the top strip's crease from the right edge for 6.4 cm.
  8. Neck up. Swing the cut strip up on a steep crease from the end of the slit, the front layers forward and the back ones behind. It stands up as the neck.
  9. Head. Fold the top 2.1 cm of the neck behind on a slanted crease, all its layers together, so the head points forward and down.
  10. Belly up. Fold the band between the leg slits up inside, the front layer and the back layer each tucked between the body layers.
  11. Thin legs. Fold both long edges of each leg behind on slants, from nothing at the top to 6 mm at the hoof, so the legs taper.
  12. Chest. Fold the body's top front corner, under the neck, behind 1.9 cm along each edge.
  13. Fleece: new sheet. Set the sheep aside. Take the cream paper, cream side up, lying wide.
  14. Wool pleat: up. Fold the bottom edge up on a level crease 2.1 cm below the top edge.
  15. Wool pleat: down. Fold it back down on a crease 4.5 mm higher. A narrow pleat runs across the wool like a thick curl.
  16. Second pleat: up. Fold the bottom edge up on a level crease 4.7 cm below the top edge.
  17. Second pleat: down. Fold it back down on a crease 4.5 mm higher. A narrow pleat runs across the wool like a thick curl.
  18. Round the fleece. Fold all four corners behind, 1.8 cm along each edge.
  19. Rounder still. Fold the eight new corners behind, just 6 mm each, so the fleece is a soft round cloud.
  20. Glue it together. Glue the fleece over the body so only the legs, the chest, the neck and the head show.

Baa!

With a white gel pen, give it a big eye on the side of the head.

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