Easy Napkin Tutorial

The holidays are over and here in Indiana we are under a blanket of snow after a heavy snowstorm a few days ago with wind chills of 40 below.  Finally the temperature is starting to warm and the snow melt a little. I have no desire to be out in this weather.  So thankfully I can offset any cabin fever with sewing!

I've been viewing some of my Craftsy sewing courses and trying to decide what project to start on next.  So while trying to decide, I am going to use up some of my fabric stash and make a few cloth napkins.  You can use all sorts of fabrics including linen; but I'm just going to use some cottons.  Stain resistant fabrics would be great; but I'm just making some informal ones for now. 

I decided to cut out some Christmas print fabric that I was actually going to use when my daughter was young for a little dress. But that never happened!

I thought I'd go through the steps to make a narrow hemmed napkin here.  Hopefully you will be able to see the stitching on this fabric.  

Standard napkins are generally either 14" or 17" squares; but you could make them whatever size you desire.  I would preshrink your fabric first.  Make sure your fabric is on grain so it lays nice.  The easiest way to cut the fabric would be with a rotary cutter and ruler using a protective cutting mat.  Be careful cutting because the rotary cutter has very sharp blades.  When cutting be sure to add one inch to the size for hemming.

After cutting your fabric turn all four sides under 1/2" and press.  You could stitch all around the napkin 1/2" to help in turning under if you like or just measure with a seam gauge and press as you go.  I had previously stitched 1/4" around because I was going to do a different method...so ignore that stitching! ;)

Here's a picture after turning under 1/2".  This fabric ravels a lot so if yours does be sure to trim the little ravels off. 

Next you will need to turn the corners under diagonally so the pressed folds match.  I used a pin to see where the pressed lines intersect because this fabric made it hard to see.  A solid fabric would be easier to see:

After folding and pressing the corner diagonally trim the corner edges to 1/4":

Now you are ready to turn the edges under 1/4" to meet the pressed fold line all the way around the edges of napkin:

When you come to a corner you will miter it.  The two edges will meet in the middle with a diagonal line. Here is the mitered corner half done.  The other side will meet that little diagonal edge that's pinned.  Just turn the left side under like the right and it will work! :)

Just keep going around turning under the edges and mitering your corners.  Then you will stitch all around your pinned napkin.  Pivot at the corners and keep sewing.  Be sure to remove your pins as you go and don't sew over them.  Here's a picture where I stitched along one edge and pivoted to begin down the another side. Stitch close to the folded inside edge:

Here you can hopefully see where I stitched along the first edge, pivoted and now stitching along next edge. You can also see my mitered corner:

And here is a picture showing the stitching from the top side of the napkin:

 

And lastly I pressed and folded my napkin into eighths.  You could fold your napkin fancier, of course:

Have fun making some napkins yourself!  It's a great way to use up some fabrics and makes meals a little special!

Thanks for reading,
Marla