How to Build a Simple Chinese Dragon Kite
The mythology of Chinese dragons illuminates the farthest reaches of our imagination. Bring the stories of dragons soaring through the sky to life with a dragon kite. Kite aficionados create wildly elaborate dragon kites, but novice kite makers can create imaginative dragon kites with relatively few materials or technological know-how. Get the whole family in on the act of making bright, colorful flying dragons, using the traditional Chinese colors or red, yellow, black, white and green.
Things You'll Need
- Wire clothes hanger or thin-gauge wire
- 3/16-inch dowel rod, 14 to 16 inches long
- Cloth tape
- Scissors
- Green kite fabric, 36 inches long
- Gold tinsel
- Fabric paint
- Fabric markers
- Kite spool
Instructions
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1
Unwind and straighten a wire hanger.
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2
Wrap one end of the wire around the end of a dowel. Wrap the center point of the length of wire around the other end of the dowel.
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3
Form the wire into a triangular or diamond shape for the dragon's head, with one end of the dowel being the nose and the other end being the back of the head. Wrap tape around the wire ends and the points where the wire wraps around the dowel to secure them together.
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4
Place the wire head shape on a sheet of nylon. Cut around the wire shape, leaving 1 inch of extra fabric.
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5
Cut 3/4-inch long slits at every corner or bend around the edge of the cut nylon shape to create flaps. Fold the flaps around the wire and tape them down on the other side of the material, slightly stretching the material along the way. The completed shape will serve as the dragon's head.
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6
Take out the other color nylon sheet to make the tail. Place the sheet over the head from where the tail will extend from, overlapping the head approximately halfway. Cut a long strip of the nylon measuring the same width of the head at the point where the overlapping nylon stops.
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7
Trace around the head form on the cut tail piece and cut along the line to remove the extra overlapping piece. Tape the edge of the tail piece to the head piece, just over the edge and on the same side that the head nylon was taped.
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8
Cut the other end of the tail piece so that it gradually tapers in and forms a point, to mimic the end of a dragon's tail.
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9
Create two bunches of long tinsel. Wrap tape around one end of each to secure the bunches. Place the taped ends on either side under the head shape, at the junctions where the head meets the tail. Tape the tinsel to the underside of the head. The tinsel will flair out during kite flying, becoming the dragon's wings.
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10
Turn the kite over so the taping is on the bottom. Add the dragon's features and any other decorations with fabric paint and fabric markers.
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11
Tie the end of the string from a kite reel around the middle of the dowel on the underside of the kite.
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