Crafting

I Tried It: Origami Star Wars X-Wing

When is the best time to try your hand at an overly-complicated, yet nerdy, origami fold? Close to midnight on a Sunday, of course!

There it was in my Facebook feed last night: a friend had shared a link with a big ol’ enticing image of a paper X-Wing. In a rather dramatic and lengthy title, the link taunted me, promising I would be able to fold MY VERY OWN X-Wing from a single, square sheet of paper.

Hey, I have origami paper! Challenge accepted!

Some folks recommend reading user comments on projects like these, just to see where others might have run into trouble or to learn tips for getting past the difficult bits. Last night I learned that I am not one to take such recommendations; I just selected a paper color, hit play on the video, and followed along.

Oh man, I have to do this THREE MORE TIMES?!
Oh man, I have to do this THREE MORE TIMES?!

Now keep in mind that I paused and reviewed different sections a LOT. It probably took me three times as long as the video to actually finish the thing. BUT! I managed to get a not-bad-looking X-Wing on my first try!

Stay on target!
Stay on target!

Like the video says, sharp creases are a huge help. I also occasionally used a palette knife to separate layers and start straight folds, but it was a bit too wide to really get down into the corners that didn’t want to pop open like they were supposed to. Maybe a skewer of some sort would have been a more helpful tool.

Want to fold some origami of your own? If this tutorial is any indication, Joe’s videos are great to follow along with. His YouTube channel is HowToOrigami, and if videos aren’t your thing he’s also got a few step-by-step origami tutorials in photo-series form on Instructables.

Beth Voigt

Beth is a graphic designer in Chicago, a superhero in her own mind, and absolutely nothing on TV. She wrangles fonts professionally, pummels code amateurishly, and has been known to shove fire in her face for fun. Fond of volunteering, late-night bursts of productivity, and making snacks, she dislikes grocery shopping and sticky public transit and is only on her second smartphone. Her opinion is that you should try everything twice; if you don't like it, you were probably doing it wrong the first time around. If external links are your thing, here are links to Twitter and Instagram, and you can support her ongoing weirdness by buying her a coffee or six.

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