Try this combination of two coordinating quilt weight cotton fabrics to make high quality cloth napkins for fall festivities. This easy project features the Stitch Guide foot for sewing neat narrow seams and for topstitching edges. Make a whole set to match the number of your place settings and to add a colorful touch of fall to your next special gathering!
Materials and Supplies:
- Sewing Machine
- Stitch Guide Foot Note: There are two versions of this foot. One is plain and the other is marked with red lines, either will work to create stunning results. Check your machine manual to see if foot ‘V” is included with your standard accessories.
- Basic sewing notions and sewing thread to match fabrics. including a point turner tool for pushing out corners.
- Fabric for napkins:
- One square of Fabric #1 and one square of Fabric #2, with each square measuring approximately 20 ¾-inches square. Plan on purchasing 5/8 yard of each of the two fabrics for each set of two napkins.
Note: Dinner size napkins can be virtually any size you choose but a 20-inch square is standard for quality dinner napkins. Most quilt weight cotton is 42 to 44 inches wide but some are slightly narrower. To make the largest napkins possible, fold your fabric in half and then determine the largest square you can get across the width. Be sure to exclude the selvedges for this measurement as they can cause fabric to shrink and pucker at the edge. Finished size of each napkin for this project measured 19 ¾-inches square.
About the Stitch Guide Foot
For projects that require the utmost accuracy, such as garments, topstitching or piecing while quilting, this foot comes prepared to help. The built-in ruler is perfect for keeping your measurements precise at all times.
The Stitch Guide Foot has a long toe on the left and an extension on the right. This extension is marked with eleven grooves spaced in small increments measuring 2mm apart. You can use this foot for stitching seam allowances of many different widths. Use a seam gauge to measure from the needle to one of the grooves to determine the distance for stitching. It is also very useful for accurate topstitching of single or multiple rows. You’ll see how useful the markings are when making this project.
Instructions for Making Napkins
- Attach foot V to the machine.
- Set up machine for sewing a straight stitch in the left needle position, using the default/standard stitch length of 2.5.
Pin right sides of two coordinating squares of fabric together. Mark off a space measuring 5-inches long on one of the four sides to leave an opening for turning.
Align raw edges of the fabric layers with the third groove from the left to sew a seam measuring slightly less than 3/8-inch. Begin sewing a few inches beyond one of the corners. Follow this process for corners that turn neatly when you are finished:
- As you approach the corner, change the stitch length to 2.0, pivot slightly and sew two stitches across the corner. Change back to a standard stitch length for the remainder of the seam but repeat this process on each of the four corners. See example in Figure #2.
Press seams to set stitches. Clip each corner to eliminate bulk. See Figure #3.
Turn right sides out through opening. Press all edges, carefully folding and pressing open edges so they are even.
Change to a center needle straight stitch. Align the edge of the napkin with the second groove line from the left to edge stitch very close to finished edge of the napkin, stitching the opening closed in the process. See Figure #4.
Stitch all around the napkin edge, pivoting at each corner. Next, align the edge of the napkin with the fifth groove line from the left to sew another perfectly spaced line of edge stitching. Notice how stitches are perfectly spaced approximately ¼-inch apart. See Figure #5. You are finished!
Options and Ideas:
- Create an extra napkin to use for a centerpiece accent on your table.
- Use a solid color of coordinating fabric for one side of the napkin.
- Stitch several more rows of evenly spaced edge stitching for a more prominent topstitched effect.
- Consider using a decorative stitch along the edge of the napkin. When selecting a decorative stitch you will want to choose from stitches that normally use foot “J” these are generally open, airy stitches that will not require additional stabilizer on the two layers of cotton.
