Napkin folding is an old art and there are sooo many styles to go with your tablescapes and to go with
whatever meal you are serving.
Today I thought I’d share just a couple of napkin folding
techniques and the book I found with you all
in a little book review.
Today I thought I’d share just a couple of napkin folding
techniques and the book I found with you all
in a little book review.
I love looking for books and tea and etiquette books are
BIG on my list of “must haves” so when I found a newish
book on folding napkins which could help me
with setting a pretty table
I was all over it.
The photograph above is from a tea I photographed recently and here I’ve created a cute little floral napkin pocket ~
one of the napkin folding ideas I found in this
exciting little book.
BIG on my list of “must haves” so when I found a newish
book on folding napkins which could help me
with setting a pretty table
I was all over it.
The photograph above is from a tea I photographed recently and here I’ve created a cute little floral napkin pocket ~
one of the napkin folding ideas I found in this
exciting little book.
Let’s get to this book review and tutorial
shall we?
shall we?
🙂
*This is the original printing. There may be minor differences in the two.
Credited to Liz Belton, et al
 |
| Here a napkin style called The Pocket makes an informal tea table fun! |
The Art of Napkin Folding
by Liz Belton and the editors of Ryland, Peters and Small
London and New York
rating: 5 stars
(an updated version ~ new cover ~ not credited to Ms. Belton, et al )
rating: 5 stars
(an updated version ~ new cover ~ not credited to Ms. Belton, et al )
*This is the second publishing with some changes. I purchased the first printing.
I found this book to be charming with full high resolution color photographs throughout showing detailed step-by-step
instructions on creating more than a dozen folded napkin styles.
Each photograph shows how to recreate each napkin style and
is very thorough with the details.
 |
| My favorite of all the photographs ~ Love this kitchen prep photo with the Fleur de Lys napkins guarding the silver. |
My nemesis has been the above photographed… the
Fleur de Lys.
I have another book written by the late Diana, Princess of Wales’
former butler Paul Burrell and I never could get this napkin
to work so I’m particularly glad that this book
does the job.
When I was trying several years ago to recreate the Fleur de Lys from Mr. Burrell’s book there must have been a step missing.
For this reason only is why I gave it four stars out of five.
Otherwise, for interesting tidbits about royal life and some wonderful stories about the princess and Mr. Burrell’s
time spent in her service ~ this is a lovely book and
I do enjoy reading it!
Both books are wonderful for the
aforementioned reasons.
In the Royal Manner:
Expert Advice on Etiquette and Entertaining
from the Former Butler to Diana, Princess of Wales
Grand Central Publishing, London
rating: 4 stars
I am an Amazon affiliate but any purchases you make here won’t cost you
a cent more. Please see my full disclosure here.
So, on to the today’s tutorial…
🙂
How to fold a Fleur de Lys napkin
*Starch and iron your 20″ x 20″ or similar
square napkin flat.
Press by folding to lightly create four squares
for future guide.
Open out and iron flat.
{The lines of each square should still be slightly visible.}
*Turn the napkin on the diagonal and fold the top point down
to meet the bottom point creating a large triangle.
*Bring both outer triangle points down to meet the bottom
point ~ as seen above.
Lightly press as you go through each step.
*Now fold each of these top points back towards the top.
*Fold the lower points up to touch the above folds
then fold up again a second time ~ as shown here.
*Fold a third time creating what looks like an old paper hat
many of us created out of newspaper as a kid.
Press again.
*Flip the napkin over and continue with the next step:
*Fold the left side and the right sides in by 1/3 each
and slip the right side into the pocket created
by the rolls of the left side ~ above.
*Pick up the napkin and round out the bottom to
make the napkin stand.
*Turn the napkin around to face you and fluff the
lily’s top “petal” and pull down the side petals.
That’s all there is to it.
Turns out it wasn’t so difficult after all.
🙂
The editors of The Art of Napkin Folding show even
more photographs than I’ve recreated here but I didn’t
want to spoil the book for you!
The Art of Napkin Folding shares tutorials for
napkins for contemporary occasions as well as for
classically vintage stylings.
The editors discuss traditional napkin sizes and the
history of napkins and relates napkin use to what occasions
certain sized napkins are used today.
Funny names for some of the napkin foldings are:
the water lily
the fan
guard of honor
the tuxedo
the rose
and perfect points
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little napkin post and
I look forward to creating more napkins in future
tablesettings with you in mind.
🙂
Sharing with
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Friday at the Fire Station
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Sew It Cook It Craft It ~ Sew Historically
Happy decorating,
