Impossible Paper Turn-up

Let’s explore a captivating paper-folding puzzle, part of the impossible origami family. It is simple to carry out and can be done at any moment.

Cut a 10-centimeter-wide strip from a two-colored sheet (in our case, yellow and red). Make sure the paper strip is at least 24-25 cm long! By gluing the ends together, you may turn this strip into a ring, as shown below. The goal is to create a turn-up in the ring without tearing it… Impossible? Many of your friends will attempt, but the outcome will always be negative.

This is how the trick works:

Flatten the paper ring and fold the top edge by 2-3 cm (see fig. 1). Unfold only the single top layer of the fold, creating two triangular folds at each corner of the flattened ring (fig. 2). Next, fold the two outer edges along the base of the flattened triangles (fig. 3). Then, fold the outer edge upstream. This way, a folded edge is now on each face of the flattened ring.

Now, insert your fingers inside the ring, firmly holding one corner between your thumbs and index fingers. Carefully separate your hands, pulling the sheet at the corner, releasing the excess paper hidden between the folds (fig. 5a and 5b). Repeat on the other corner. Finally, rearrange the paper ring, smoothing out the visible folds. The top edge of the ring is now completely turned on itself, creating a perfect turn-up without tears. Who would have thought? Congratulations, magician!