Fall napkins with mitered corners

September 24, 2013

Fall napkins with mitered corners - tutorial

Yesterday there was talk of Thanksgiving and what our plans will be. My mind immediately went to these fall napkins that I made about 4 years ago as a gift. (please excuse my crummy photos from years ago)

This is the fabric I used.

The first thing to do is cut the fabric into exact squares. I chose to make 20" napkins, so my squares need to be 21 1/4". You can cut 2 napkin squares out of 1 width of fabric. You will need to decide how many napkins you want, and buy yardage accordingly. I made 12 napkins so I needed enough yardage to fit 6 napkins (127 1/2"). That means that I need to buy 3 2/3 yards (132" - there will be a bit extra). The fabric is folded in half so I will really have enough for all 12 napkins.

Fold 1/4" in on all four sides and press.

Fold the napkin at a diagonal like this.

Make a triangle pattern out of card stock. The width of the short side of the triangle will be the width of the hem. I want my hem to be 1" so my triangle measures 1" on the short side.

Match up the triangle pattern to the folded corner of the napkin and mark with a pencil.

Stitch on the pencil line.

Trim the seam at 1/4". To avoid the tread tails from coming out exactly in the corners, I started and stopped my stitching off of this inside corner. That way when I topstitch the hem in place, the tails will be neatly tucked inside the hem.