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Swallowtail Butterfly

When visiting Evi Binzinger’s flikr page not long ago, I spotted –among other lovely origami models, this swallowtail butterfly that Evi had created. I fell in love with it and immediately set myself the task of deciphering the folding sequence. This sequence turned out to be as enjoyable as looking at the finished butterfly.

With concave wings, the butterfly can be used as a decorative plate to offer candy or other delectable goodies. As a symbol of love and good luck, I also imagine it as a special ornament on a wrapped wedding or anniversary gift.

Evi Binzinger (Germany) creates simple yet ingenious and inspirational models that she generously shares on her flickr page. Many thanks to Evi for allowing me to share here on Origami Spirit  a video demonstrating the folding sequence of her precious butterfly.

Evi suggests one possible variation from the butterfly’s base to be folded as a four-leaf clover. I’m sure that if we try, we’ll invite good fortune should we figure this out as well!

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46 thoughts on “Swallowtail Butterfly”

  1. this is a beautiful tutorial! but eh i spent over thirty minutes just making it because ugh my fingers won’t work ;w;

    Reply
    • Great for trying, Macchinno! Try it more than once and be patient. Your fingers will eventually learn. It will be an honor for the teacher. She spent more than 40 hours making the video ;-)

      Reply
  2. Hi Leyla,
    and thank you for your great tutorials. I’ve been looking for a butterfly one since yesterday and here it is : my first butterfly is done and I’m quite proud of it!
    Greetings from France (^_^)

    Reply
    • Hi Tiana,
      I don’t know of diagram instructions. There is one related butterfly published in one of the Crease magazines, but I cannot recall which one, and I don’t have access to it now.

      Reply
  3. Hi,
    Just started doing origami and it is so wonderful, wow. I would like to ask if you have a printable instruction for your tutorial. Keep up the good and creative work. Nicely done. Greetings here in the Philippines :) <3

    Reply
  4. Hi- just finished mine and it is perfect. I got stuck at a few spots but I “stepped back” like you instructed another poster and between that and the “pause” button I finally got it.
    I used traditional origami pre-cut papers I bought it Michael’s.They are a little thicker and harder to see the lines since the paper is printed but I pressed on.
    Thank you for the instructions!

    Reply
  5. Yipiiee. Thank you for posting how to do that lovely butterfly. Now i have the idea to put the butterfly origami in my portfolio to look more beautiful. Again, thank you. Your videos are great!

    Reply
  6. I love this butterfly and have managed most of it but I am stuck on the bottom two wings and how to make them curve – just cant uderstand how to do it.

    Reply
  7. Thank you so much for posting this, Leyla – it’s beautiful and you make it look so easy, even though I’m sure it’s not! Evi has a huge amount of talent to be able to design such an amazing piece.

    I’ll give this a try sometime soon. By the way, your voice is very relaxing, it reminds me of my Spanish friend Maria so it makes me smile. :-D

    Best wishes from Edinburgh, Scotland. xx

    Reply
  8. I’m so excited to have found this article! I will try to make some of these by tomorrow. Do you know Gossip Girl? Serena has this beautiful butterfly installation above her bed made by Paul Villinski. Not sure if I’m allowed to put a link in here, but if you don’t know it you should google it. That’s what I want to re-build. Do you have some advise on the paper to use? Is it possible with every sort of paper? (And please excuse my English, i don’t know when it turned so bad, in school I was quite good at it :D)

    Reply
  9. Saw this butterfly on flickr a few months ago and fell in love with it, I am so happy to have found your web site and this video (made to house too). Now that I have
    managed the butterfly off to try some of your other videos. Thank you so much
    and to Evi too!

    Reply
  10. Saw this in creased mag. like the way the back wings are folded and curled. Also can balance on the end of wire or green felt tip pen colored skewer in a pot of flowers. Also like to use chopsticks for display…

    Reply
  11. What a beautiful model! You explained and illustrated the process clearly. Wonderful job of sharing this model with the world! I’m thinking of making a mobile of these!

    Reply
  12. Did it, a little rough (I used a tiny piese of cube paper) But did it! Your tutorials are great! Greetings from Greece

    Reply

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