The valley fold is the simplest of origami folds. Often folders just slap it together very roughly, and sharpen up the crease. This easy method usually works well. But if (like me) you are a perfectionist, here is a way to make an almost perfect horizontal or vertical crease:
To see a larger picture of each substep, just select the corresponding image.
Similar methods can be used to make diagonal valley folds or mountain folds.
|
The valley fold is indicated by a dashed line without any dots. Reference creases are sometimes indicated by straight lines, and sometimes they are not indicated at all. Begin by rolling the bottom half of the paper up in front of the top half. | |
|
Line up the top edge of the paper, as closely as is reasonable. If you can barely see one paper's width of paper at the top edge, that is probably good enough. | |
|
Center the paper along the line. If the paper is not perfectly symmetrical, you can adjust for that flaw here. If there is a reference crease, it should line up. | |
|
Hold the corners flat; tug slightly at them, and flatten the middle of the paper. | |
|
Keeping the paper in tension, resolve the crease by flattening the paper from edge to edge. | |
|
The finished valley fold. If you were to unfold it, the crease would look like an aerial view of a river bottom. |
You can:
Copyright 1995-96, 98-99 by John Paulsen, who thanks
Michael Khusid for his help with these pictures.
Your comments are welcomed.
Last updated July 23, 1999.