ORIGAMI WEAVING: PART 4

The paper weaving has progressed still further - and so has the learning.

Yesterday there were two versions of the main frame strips: a short version and a long version. The difference in lengths is necessary to stagger the pieces so that they weave properly.

Today there are three versions of the narrow interior strips: two long and one short. The second long version tucks into the back of the first version in order to extend it. The triangular points on the back of the work show where this happens. The locking fold is different on these ends.

The short strip not only has a different lock on each end but one of them is on the other side. This enables the piece to be looped over the edge of the work and slotted in on the back side. You can see two of these strips in the photo of the back of the work: at the top and the bottom of the piece respectively.

Slotting the locks into and under the longitudonal slits in the large strips puts quite a strain on the edges of those strips. Several of the single thickness edges tore slightly.


One edge was badly damaged to the point where it began to affect the locking ability of two of the thin strips. I resorted to strengthening it with invisible tape.

Now the interesting question is: Does the work remain origami if it uses adhesive tape in its construction? I maintain that it does if, as in this case, the tape is not part of the design but is used to strengthen a damaged part, not to connect the pieces together. Of course, since the tape is invisible, I can probably deny that it is there to anyone who cannot detect it by sight. Can you see it?

ORIGAMI WEAVING: PART 3

The weaving continues.

There have been several challenges.

The first concerned where to store the increasingly large piece. This was solved by pegging it to my kitchen wall spice rack.

The second has been the difficulties arising from trying to ease the locking diamonds into the horizontal slits on the back of the work. There have been a couple of paper tears, fortunately hidden under the strips. I need a better method of gently separating the slits than a chopstick. I tried toothpicks, but these tend to poke holes in the paper. My pliers are too big. I think I will try tweezers tomorrow.







A design improvement might be to add paper at the sides of the strips so that I can have a double hem on the back slot. There is a lot of tension on that central slot on the back of the work.

My concern over adding extra paper is that the result will increase the thickness of the paper strips too much. I will try out the idea using thinner paper on the next model and see how it works out.












I am starting to consider how I might edge the model when it is completed. It looks a little bit untidy around the edges for my liking. I haven't solved this one yet.





The result so far.

BTW, these are the real colors. They are looking better as my influenza improves :-)