Single Box Delta Plan

I made a few dozen of these kites and found better ways of doing it each time. I have put the best technique here in this plan/tutorial. I taught a class on making this kite and found it to be an easy beginner class. The Kite took four hours including a little messing around and a lunch break. This of course did not include the time it took me to cut out the kits. Please feel free to send comments on any steps that don't seem too clear.

Parts List: 2 yards coated ripstop(spinnaker) One of each color.
scraps of Cordura Nylon for Pockets.
2 - 4 foot ¼" dowels
4 - 3 foot ¼" dowels
Two eyelets or narrow webbing to attach bridle.

 Cut a three foot square piece of Ripstop in the color you wish for your wings. Then using a straight edge cut in two by cutting diagonally.
You will now have two wings of equal size.
Cut two strips of Ripstop 2 inches by 4½ Feet for the leading edge of the kite. You may wish to make this a contrasting color than that of the wings.
Cut two pieces of fabric 1 foot by 3 feet. This also could be a contrasting color than that of the wings.
When attaching the parts of the kite together the seams will be folded over and stitched down. This makes for a stronger better looking kite.
Sew a ¼" Hem all the edges of the wings except the leading edges.
Now sew a ¼" hem along the two longest side of each box section.
Fold the leading edges in half length ways and seam a ¼ inch seam along the 4½ foot length.
Important - Don't fold this hem over and stitch it down just yet, we will do that after we attach it to the wing.
Now fold the hemmed box sections in half and sew a ¼ inch hem along the edge. Open the box up and fold over the hem you just made and stitch it down. Then the box section can be turned right side out.
Box after turning right side out. (The seam that closed the box section we will hide in the back of the kite.)

Measure 6 inches from the seam you just created. Fold the box section along the 6 inch mark and finger press a fold along the width of the box. Then put a 1" seam along this edge. Do the same for the other side. You should now have a box section with two pockets for the dowels to go through.
Now for the last seam on the box sections. Fold the box section half so that the two pockets line up with each other. Then finger press the front point of the box along the entire width of the box. Sew the last pocket with a one inch seam.
Attach the leading edge of the kite to the wing. Sew along the ¼" seam that is already in the leading edge. Fold this seam over on the back side of the wing and stitch down. Do the same for the other wing. Make sure you center the leading edge so there is a little extra at each end to allow for trimming.
After you sew on both leading edges and Stitched down the seam, trim the top and bottom of the leading edge flush as seen in the illustration.
Attach the box sections to the wings by putting right sides together as seen in the illustration. (Notice the seam in the middle of the back of the box.) Use a 1/8" seam. The seam allowance will be too small for you to fold over the seam to stitch it down. Do the same when attaching the boxes to the other wing. Remember to put right sides together.
Congratulations, your almost done. This is what the kite looks like when unfolded.
Cross Spar Pockets - Cut a piece of Cordura Nylon 1½" by 5". Use a soldering iron or a lighter to melt the edges of the nylon to prevent fraying. Fold over 2" of one end and stitch down the sides of the pocket. I suppose you could even use a piece of 1½ Webbing for the pockets.
This picture shows exactly where to stitch the pocket.
Attach the Pockets to the back of the kite as shown. Be carefull not to stitch where the dowel goes through the leading edge.
As you can see here I sew the pocket on the leading edge being careful not to sew into the area where the leading edge dowel goes through.
There are different schools of thought on where to attach the bridle on the kite. I have used the dead center of the box section with great results every time. I put them here on all the box deltas I made no matter what size the kite.
I use a grommet for the bridle to go through. But you can use a loop of webbing by stitching in the seam of the front dowel pocket.
I didn't want to put exact measurements for the bridle since I experiment with it my self. I eyeball the angle of the bridle till it looks like the illustration. Let me know if you find perfect measurements.
Now what you need to do is get 4 three foot dowels for the uprights and cross member and two four foot dowels for the leading edge. After cutting them for a good fit, sew in the box and leading edge dowels by stitching the pocket openings at both ends. You can see that the leading edge dowels don't go to all the way to the top. The cross bar dowel should fit in snug in the pockets without bending. Well that is how I make the kite.
Well that is it. I hope you find this tutorial helpful. Please feel free to drop me an email if you find a flaw in my explanation. I think I covered all the important points. But I might have missed something. So if a step doesn't make sense or is hard to figure out, let me know.
(More Plans) All illustrations created in Photoshop by Kevin Nickel of Kitemonger.