Napkin Tutorial

I got bored yesterday, since I woke up at 730 and didn't work until 12. So, what's a girl to do? After I made myself a pot of coffee, took a shower and read some blogs, for I don't know, an hour or so, I decided to make napkins of course.

I bought this fabric a few weeks ago with a friend and thought it would make super cute summer napkins (So glad my husband doesn't mind that they are uber feminine. He just likes that I serve dinner along side them :))

So, I thought it would be fun to show you how I make them. I totally got this from pinterest. Because that's where you get stuff like this. The original tutorial I saw this from is here.

You start with a a fabric square 21"x21". I made 4 napkins, because I forgot that I wanted to make 6 and only bought enough fabric for 4. (only a great excuse to go to the fabric store and get more)

Turn the fabric so the right side is down and make sure its ironed well. Then fold each corner in 1 1/2" and press. I love to use the steam setting for these napkins.

After all four corners are pressed, cut off roughly a 1/2" or so. No need to measure.

Then, fold one side of the napkin over about 1/2". Use the steam to get a good crease.

Fold it over a second time, one more 1/2".

Pin a few inches apart to hold in place.

Repeat with the double folding one side at a time, matching up the corners as best as possible. Clearly, mine are not perfect. I was going to take a picture of a perfect one but I forgot. So now you know I'm not perfect, secret's out!

When you have your napkin all folded and pinned, it's time to sew! Choose a thread that blends in or stands out! I chose a beige because I already had it set up with a filled bobbin :) And it just so happens to go well. Go nice and slow, sewing fairly close to the inside edge of the fold. When you get to a corner, go slow and stop with the needle in the fabric. Then, lift the foot and rotate the fabric.

This is with the foot up after I turned the napkin, sort of hard to see but keep the needle in. Then lay the foot down and keep sewing all the way around, repeating that at each corner.

After you sew the inside seam, repeat the same way with the outside seam. I just followed the fabric with my foot, about an 1/8" from the edge.

It should look like this when you are done!

Again, you can see my corners are not perfect :) But I love making napkins! You should make them too!

So we only use cloth napkins for meals. I feel old fashioned and green at the same time. And when they get dirty, I throw them in the laundry with the rest of the clothes. I hope you have endless napkin making fun.