linen napkins {a tutorial}

 

Firstly, welcome to all you Noodleheads! And thank-you to Anna for asking me to participate in the "spice up your kitchen" week.

For those of you who aren't sure what I'm talking about, you can go here:
 

 

 

and check out all the other great tutorials Anna has lined up with a few of the most amazing seamstresses/crafters out there in blogland!

 

 

So let's get started with the tutorial for how to make some really stylin' cloth napkins so you can kiss those paper ones goodbye!

 

 

 

 

 

 

What you will need:

 

 

     

 

• eight 12.5 inch square pieces of linen in the color you prefer.  I always prewash, since linen tends to shrink a lot!  {Just as a side-note, I order all my linen from fabrics-store.com.  The weight I used is the IL019 which seems to be a great weight for most home-dec type sewing.  They have great colors, the fabric is 54" wide, and the price is awesome.  And if you happen to place an order with them, if you use the coupon code:  "collection", you can get 10% off your order.}
• 1 yard and 20 inches of quilting cotton cut into (16) 3.5 inch strips.
• (8) 65 inch pieces of embroidery floss (I used all six strands of each length.)
• a half and quarter ruler (this was really handy to have, but not absolutely necessary.)

 

What you will do:

1.  Using your half and quarter ruler (or cutting mat that has 45 degree markings) cut 32 pieces from your quilting cotton strips that are 45 degrees on each end and 12.5 inches long on the shorter of the long ends.  These will be your edging pieces.

 

2.  With right sides facing, line up one of the edging pieces with one side of a linen square and starting 1/4 inch in, sew the edging piece to the linen, backstitching at the beginning and the end.  Repeat this step for all four sides of the linen.

3.  Now, line up the 45 degree ends of your edging fabric with right sides together and starting at the stitch from sewing the edging to the linen, stitch the two edgings together.  (This stitch may be exactly 1/4 inch from the fabric edge, but if not, just make sure to stitch evenly down.)  Repeat for all four corners.

 

4.   Open your napkin up and iron all the corner seams to one side.

5.  Now turn in and iron 1/4 of an inch or so around each side of the edging.

6.  Now turn that fold in on all four sides until it slightly over laps the stitching on the linen and iron once more.

7.  Now open your last fold up, and with right sides of the edging together, use your ruler (or cutting mat) and make a 45 degree mark on the inside of the edging, starting where the two folds come together, pin in place, and machine stitch on your marking.

8.  Now trim the corner off within 1/4 inch of the seam, turn the edging right side out, and use a bone folder (or corner turner) to push the corner out.

9.  Press the edging in place so it just barely covers the stitch line on the linen.  Using your embroidery thread, stitch a running stitch around the entire inside edge of the quilting cotton edge.  (Just to make it look a little more polished, I started and ended my stitching in between the layers and tucked the knot in there so it doesn't show.)

(the little blue thing is a rubber needle puller made by clover.  It helps to grasp the needle and pull it through several layers of fabric)
  

10.  Once I embroidered each napkin, I machine straight stitched just inside the embroidery thread with some thread that matched the edging cotton really well (so it doesn't show) just to make them a little more sturdy 'cause I like sturdy, usable stuff. 

 

Tada!  Now you have a stylin' set of napkins  that can be thrown in the washer and dryer with your other linens, no problem!

And if you make a set (or even one) of these, please strut your stuff and add them to these two flickr groups:

I made it! {from a sewtakeahike tutorial}

AND,

I made it! {kitchen}

May all your dinners be as wonderful as your new napkin set!

~Penny

Comments

[Lisa]

Great tutorial Penny!! Love the linen napkins in the range of colours. The newsprint fabric makes the perfect trim.

[Effie]

Fab........ beautifully mitred corners!

[Deedrie]

This seems like a great way to use up some stash fabric. Thanks for the great tutorial.

[Sudi-Laura]

Thank you so much for the tutorial! I ordered some linen from the fabric-store, and got a great deal in their "doggie bag" section. 1/2 yard cuts for less than $3 each. My family will be using linen from now on!!!

[Mary]

These are so great Penny! Thanks for sharing! I really love your fabric choices.

[Tonya]

I love it! Thank you so much. I just ordered my linen swatches to pick out some colors. These are fantastic.

[Jane]

Penny...love the napkins...so wonderfully custom and finished with the mitered border print. A set of these would make a great gift! Thanks for the tutorial.

[kari]

We love cloth napkins in our house and this is a great tutorial. Thanks for sharing!

[Nicole]

You are AWESOME. I've wanted to make these since I saw them on Amy's blog. Thank you for the tutorial!

[Allie]

Great tutorial and lovely napkins, girl!

[Ammie]

Thanks for the fabulous tutorial. These are so very very happy.

[Sherrie]

Penny these are the cutest napkins! I am so glad you posted this tutorial with the mitered corners. I am going to try this technique with a wall quilt that I am working on right now.

[SewCalGal]

Thank you very much! I've been wanting to make these for some time and had been thinking about how to do it, as I had not found a tutorial. Now, this is perfect! Can't wait to make them! It is like you are psychic!

SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

[Anne]

Great tutorial and very clear explanations! I loved these when I first saw them and need to make some now!

[Natalie]

Fabulous tutorial.

Hmmmm must make napkins

the to do list just keep growing.

[Ferrers Locke]

1. A design for printed napkins I actually like. And so obvious once I see it.

2. Where did you find the wonderful dictionary fabric? Must have!

[Rachel]

These are beautiful! I love the borders. Thanks so much, I'll be linking.

[Cameron H]

Wonderful napkins and tutorial! Please do tell us about that dictionary fabric -- who makes it?

[Michele C]

Great tutorial and photos. Love the linen and the link. -- michele

[Nancy]

I loved this tute! I even already have some black/white fabric with writing. All I need is the linen. Thanks for sharing your creativity.
Nancy

[elsa]

great tutorial! now I'm going to have to make some napkins!

[janessa]

Where did you get the great dictionary fabric?!?? PLEASE TELL!!!!!

[stephanie]

Penny, I LOVE these and your binding is genius!! I have some of the new Sweetwater Make Life text fabric that will be perfect for these! thanks!!

[Claudia]

An now it's me asking: where did you get that wonderful dictionary fabric? I have been searching for something alike for ages. And it is so perfect! Would you please tell us? I would love to buy some. Thanks!

[Claudia]

It's me again. Thanks to the comment before mine, which I read after having written I found the dictionary fabric by Sweetwater and have already posted my order! So thank you Stephanie for the tip and thank you Sewtakehike for the wonderful tutorial. Greetings from Germany!!!

[jen duncan]

Lovely. Thanks for the tut AND the linen link.

[dad day suit]

Thanks for sharing this tutorial. It's always enjoyable to learn new things day by day.

[Jennifer Davey]

Thanks! I inspired to create! Can't wait for my linen to arrive.

[Stacey Harris]

I was looking around Pinterest for ideas for napkins and placemats... Shhhhuuuzzzam!
My cousin who is hosting our Christmas gathering will be excited to see what I am planning.

[מאפרת]

Wow.. Awesome napkin tutorial shared here. I like your way to represent it. I will try for this creative tutorial.

[Judith]

Great tutorial. Where did you get the text fabric from . It is fantastic.

[Libby Osmond Guy]

I LOVE these napkins! So cute. I think I will look for the fabric to make some. Although I am not a sewer but I like to try new things. Thanks for the inspiration!

[Trina]

Really, really cute. And I like the idea of a border to stretch the number of napkins you can make from your main fabric choice. This project is going into the 52 Weeks Project queue!

[Judith Ehrlich]

Just a super tutorial. Made two sets of 6. Also ordered the linen from company suggested fast delivery :)
Would love to post photos. Thank you so very much.

[Pat Essick]

Your photos were very helpful in making how to make the mitered corners clear. Cute napkins. Thanks for sharing.

[EasyLiveTrade]

Nice idea. Thanks for sharing.