[2007-12-21] Spiral origami tato fold
This nifty doo-dad is a little pocket coin purse I got at the local hardware store for about $1. It attracted my attention because of the clever rotary folding technique it employs to avoid snaps or other closures. The wet-formed leather springs naturally into the closed position. Its form suggests a flower, to me, and reminds me of a similar, circularly-folding party invitation I saw in Michael LaFosse's book, Origamido. Unfortunately, LaFosse's book does not include directions on how to execute the fold in paper.
Since I first posted about this coin purse on my old cool ideas page several years ago, more information about the folding technique, which is called "tato," has become available at instructables.com. I've mirrored the .PDF instruction file here.
last modified 2007-12-21