Homemade Cloth Napkins
Cloth napkins are sometimes considered old-fashioned, formal accessories for dining, but they can be used for casual gatherings and everyday family meals. Make your own cloth napkins for special occasions or to coordinate with your dining room's decor. This quick project can be completed in less than an hour and is simple enough for a sewing beginner. Cloth napkins are an economical and environmentally friendly substitute for paper napkins.
Things You'll Need
- One yard of fabric
- Iron
- Sewing ruler
- Scissors
- Straight pins
- Sewing machine
Instructions
-
-
1
Iron the fabric to remove wrinkles and crease folds to ensure cut squares with perfect right angles. Cut four 17-inch squares from the fabric. This will give you four napkins, each 16 inches square.
-
2
Lay a square wrong side up on your ironing surface. Working around the square, fold all the edges over a 1/4 inch to the wrong side of the fabric and press with the iron. Fold all the edges over another 1/4 inch, press and pin. Repeat on each of the cut squares.
-
-
3
Sew each pinned hem from edge to edge, sewing off the ends of the napkin. This will create a small stitched square on each corner of the cloth napkin. Repeat on each of the cloth squares.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
For interesting novelty napkins, purchase preprinted pillow panels from a fabric store. Cut and sew a hem as instructed.
Cut smaller or larger squares, if desired.
For large events requiring many napkins, purchase flat bedsheets in a design appropriate for the event.
Apply iron-on appliques to the front corners of the napkins for embellishment.
- Photo Credit water goblet with black napkin inserted image by Richard J Thompson from Fotolia.com
