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How to fold an origami violin

Shape a figure-eight body with sharp waist corners by folding its corners behind, fold a dark strip thin into the neck with a pleated nut and a rolled scroll, and add a slim bow behind.

You need: Brown: a 10 x 9 cm piece. Dark: a 3.6 x 9.6 cm strip for the neck. A 1.8 x 15 cm dark brown strip for the bow, scissors, glue and pens. Hard, 22 steps, about 25 minutes.

Steps

  1. Sides to the middle. White side up, fold the left and right edges in to meet in the middle. The front is all brown now.
  2. Waist crease. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge. This crease is the violin's narrow waist.
  3. Open it. Unfold the bottom half again.
  4. Snip the waist. Snip along the waist crease from each side, 1.2 cm in. Now the top and bottom halves can be shaped on their own.
  5. Slim the top bout. Above the snips, fold a 4 mm strip of each side behind. The top half is now a little narrower than the bottom half.
  6. Shoulders. Fold the two top corners behind on slants.
  7. Round the shoulders. Fold the four new little corners behind too, so the top is round.
  8. Pinch the waist. Next to each snip, fold the corners above and below it behind on slants. The waist dips in, with a sharp corner at each end.
  9. Bottom curve. Fold the two bottom corners behind on slants.
  10. Round the bottom. Fold the four new little corners behind too, so the bottom is wide and round.
  11. Neck: new strip. Set the body aside. Take the dark strip, white side up, standing upright.
  12. Neck: edges in. Fold the long edges in to meet in the middle.
  13. Neck: narrow it. Fold the sides behind to the middle once more, so the neck is a slim 9 mm strip.
  14. Nut pleat. Fold the top of the neck down on a crease 3 cm below its tip.
  15. Fold it back up. Fold the flap back up on a crease 3 mm lower, leaving a little ledge. That's the nut, where the strings start.
  16. Roll the scroll. Fold the tip of the neck down 5 mm.
  17. Roll it again. Roll the folded tip down once more, so it curls over like the scroll at the top of a violin.
  18. Round the scroll. Fold the two top corners of the scroll behind a little.
  19. Bow: new strip. Set the violin aside. Lay the dark brown strip on a slant, white side up.
  20. Bow: stick and hair. Fold the top long edge down until it stops 5 mm above the bottom edge. Dark stick above, white hair below.
  21. Bow: the tip. At the top end, fold the white hair behind on a slant up to the stick, so the bow ends in a little hooked tip.
  22. Glue it together. Glue the neck down the middle of the body, its end 3 cm onto the top bout. Glue the violin on top of the bow, the bow crossing behind its waist.

Ready to play!

Draw a black tailpiece, two f-holes, a bridge, four white strings, pegs on the scroll box and a black frog on the bow.

How to play

  1. Tuck the scroll under your chin, hold the bow and saw it gently across the strings.
  2. Hum a tune while you play, and take a bow at the end.
  3. Glue it to a card for a friend who plays in an orchestra.

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