How to Make a Tessellated Origami Flower

Geometric Origami flowers appeal to our sense of beauty and offer an experience of meditative mathematical repetition.

This flower, designed by David Martínez, is an exquisite example of using the principles of folded tessellations.

Origami tessellations are mosaic-styled designs folded from a single sheet of paper creating a repeating pattern of folded and pleated shapes. This tessellated flower is made from a hexagonal sheet of paper pre-creased with a triangular grid of 16 divisions.

When I first folded this tessellated flower I doubted whether I would be able to teach it through video instruction. The flower is intricate, but well worth the patient perseverance needed to succeed in making it. And for an initial effort, patience and persistence will certainly be needed.

Thank you to John Sutton, my Origami Spirit team member, for encouraging me to persist and make the video tutorial. And, of course, a big thank you to David Martinez for granting permission to demonstrate his lovely creation.

Tips and suggestions to make this tessellated origami flower

  • Use a firm, crisp and thin paper. Gift-wrap paper was use to demonstrate in the video.
  • Click HERE if you need instructions on how to make a hexagon.
  • The first time you make this origami flower, begin your hexagon from a paper no smaller than 13 x 13 inches (32 x 32 cm) and fold a few of this size to begin with. Practice makes the master.
  • When you become proficient at folding this flower from the larger sized paper, folding with smaller piece of paper will bring more successful results for sure.
  • If you make the flower with paper of different color on each side, start with the color of the finished flower facing up.
  • Onion Skin paper is perfect to make this origami flower. You can color it following suggestions in this post and in this video
  • Since this is a six-sided flower, it doubles up as an origami snowflake.
  • Make origami snowflakes in white or silver papers to create lovely Christmas decorations.

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Origami Spirit has provided tutorials and creative direction to origami artists since 2007.

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10 thoughts on “How to Make a Tessellated Origami Flower”

  1. WOW!!! What a breathtakingly-beautiful model. Thank you Leyla for sharing David’s model with all of us in this, yet again, superb tutorial. Well done! I know what I am folding tonight :-) Thank you both, David and Leyla.

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