decorative folding

File:Table setting during a German wedding party showing a simple example of decorative napkin folding 2006.jpg

File:Peacock and hen towel animal.jpg towel animals in a resort suite. Items like the flower petals and eye stickers here can be used to accentuate a design.]]

Decorative folding is an artistic type of folding similar to origami but applied to fabrics instead of paper. Some types of objects that can be folded are napkins, towels, and handkerchiefs.

Folding can be done as a hobby or an art but is most commonly encountered as a decoration in luxury hotels (towels) or fancy restaurants (napkins).{{cite book |last=Kuhn |first=Doris |title=Napkin Folding for Every Occasion |year=2005 |publisher=Sterling Publishing |location=New York |isbn=9781402728020 |page=[https://archive.org/details/napkinfoldingfor0000kuhn/page/ 9] |quote=It is no accident that fine restaurants have long preserved the art of napkin folding as an important element of presentation. |url=https://archive.org/details/napkinfoldingfor0000kuhn/page/ }} Napkin folding has a centuries-old history{{cite book |last=Hetzer |first=Linda |others=Robert Penny |title=The Simple Art of Napkin Folding: 94 Fancy Folds for Every Tabletop Occasion |year=2001 |publisher=William Morrow |location=New York, N.Y. |isbn=9780060934897 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lQ3xaui3OCoC&pg=PA7 7] |url=http://www.harpercollins.com/books/The-Simple-Art-of-Napkin-Folding-Linda-Hetzer?isbn=9780060934897&HCHP=TB_The+Simple+Art+of+Napkin+Folding |edition=1st William Morrow pbk. |accessdate=26 February 2013 |quote=More than three centuries ago, napkin folding was developed into an art, ...}} and dates back to the times of Louis XIV of France.{{cite book |last=Kuhn |first=Doris |title=Napkin Folding for Every Occasion |year=2005 |publisher=Sterling Publishing |location=New York |isbn=9781402728020 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/napkinfoldingfor0000kuhn/page/ 9–10] |url=https://archive.org/details/napkinfoldingfor0000kuhn/page/ }}

As opposed to paper origami, folding fabrics generally requires less precision; "molding" is introduced as part of the artistic process adding an element similar to modeling in clay.{{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Alison |title=The Lost Art of Towel Origami |year=2005 |publisher=Andrews McMeel |location=Kansas City |isbn=0-7407-5563-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/lostartoftowelor00jenk |page= |quote=Unlike paper origami, the lost art of towel origami leans heavily towards a range of 'molding' techniques combined with simple, basic folding methods. |access-date=2012-06-26 |url-access=registration }}