How To Make Napkin Roses For Your Kentucky Derby Party

Red napkin roses seem the perfect addition for a Kentucky Derby Party. I’ve been planning a little party to celebrate the Run For The Roses this year, which falls on May 5th. It is always held on the first Saturday of May. The red rose became the official flower of the Kentucky Derby back in 1906. Did you know that the winner of the race is given a garland of over 400 roses sewn together? Doesn’t it fit that red roses will be a key element of the decorations for this party?

[ctt template=”8″ link=”6qI5e” via=”no” ]Red napkin roses seem the perfect addition for a Kentucky Derby Party. Here’s the step by step diy.[/ctt]

Displaying The Napkin Roses

Thinking ahead, I pulled out a little silver wire basket and some red cloth napkins. I’ve made ribbon roses for years and thought that by folding the napkins, I could use them to make cloth napkin roses and display them in the shiny silver basket. (We are an Amazon affiliate and may receive a small percentage of any sales through this link at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting this website!)

The napkins used for this project are a generous 20″ – square. I made these several years ago.

Step by Step To Make Napkin Roses

Folding the napkin

How To Make Napkin Roses For Your Kentucky Derby Party — Lay napkin flat

To begin, lay the napkin out flat on your table or counter.

(I am one of those who irons her napkins and then folds them before storing them. In that case, if the folds were apparent after making the roses, I would have ironed them again. Fortunately, the folds are not visible after creating the roses.)

Next, fold the napkin in half.

Fold the napkin in half again as shown in the picture below.

Grasp the two loose ends at the top and fold back in half, lining up the loose edges with the napkin fold at the bottom.

Hold the layered outer edge together on both sides of the napkin and flip the napkin over.

Finally, fold the bottom edge up and line up along the top edge, creating a long narrow piece of fabric.

Now, fold the top left corner over into a triangle. I’m right-handed. It is easier to roll the rose from this side for me. You could roll it from the right side if it’s easier for you.

Shaping The Rose

Now, fold the pointed end to the right and begin to roll the fabric back on itself, forming the interior of the rose shape. Grasp the bottom with your finger and thumb and hold it securely. The inside of the rose, you will want a little tighter. The top edge will form the petals and needs to be looser.

Roll the napkin back until it looks like the first picture below. Then, placing your right hand on the top edge of the napkin strip, fold it back. Grasp that edge with your left thumb and forefinger at the base of the ‘rose’. It should look like the second picture. The third picture shows a broken line indicating where the upper edge folds over and the edge of the napkin is behind the rosebud.

Continue turning the rose, folding the napkin strip back, and grasping it with your

left hand at the base of the rose, and repeat until you run out of fabric.

Finally, you can see it is beginning to take shape and look like a rose.

Fold and tuck the end under and place in a basket or bowl.

Red napkin roses, how cute are these? A bouquet of red roses and mini chocolate cupcakes with a red rose piped on the top of each will add to the red rose theme, too. I’ll have to practice my rose piping skills!

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Hope this inspires your Derby Day decor, too!

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