Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers

Holiday Napkins are a Cinch

Easy Napkins Making napkins for a holiday table or special occasion such as a wedding or anniversary party is an easy way to give your table a custom look with the party theme. Keep in mind that napkins must be washable when choosing your fabric. Selecting 100 percent cotton is always best but might have to be pressed after washing. If you find a loosely woven fabric that can be unravelled on the edge, you won't have to do any hemming, however most fabrics will look better with a narrow hem. These directions will show you another option on the hemmed edge that is very attractive.

Supplies Needed

1 1/4 yds. 100% cotton fabric and contrasting thread

Step by Step

1. Purchase 1 1/4 yds. of 100% cotton fabric printed with the theme or color combination you desire. This amount of fabric will make 4 napkins. Machine wash and dry your fabric before beginning.

2. From one end of the fabric tear from selvage to selvage (the woven edge) to get a straight edge. Measure the width of your fabric and from that measurement make 4 equal squares from your 1 1/4 yds. of fabric. The squares should measure approximately 22 in.

3. Using your iron, press the raw edges of all four sides to the wrong side using a 1 1/4 in. hem. When doing the corners, open out the hem you just pressed and taking the corner point make a triangle by folding the point toward the inside of the napkin. Now you can repress the 1 1/4 in. hem to create a clean pointed corner. It resembles a mitered corner.

4. Using a long basting stitch on your sewing machine, tack this pressed edge down on all four sides so that the final sewing is easier.

5. From the right side of your napkin you will be sewing 1 in. from the edge using a satin stitch almost as dense as a buttonhole. Use contrasting thread, which compliments your printed napkin fabric, sew this satin stitch around all four edges being careful at the corners to pivot to complete the square.

6. Turn the napkin over and if any frayed edges appear under the backside, trim this carefully with your scissors.

By Sandy Bemis, Sewing Expert HouseNet, Inc.

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