Cloth napkins come in so many different sizes but they are all in a perfect square. Each size is appropriate for a different use. Cocktail napkins are 6″ x 6″, hors d’oeuvre napkins are 13″ x 13″, ordinary lunch and dinner napkins 18″ x 18″ – 20″ x 20″, a formal dinner 22″ x 22″ – 24″ x 24″, and a formal buffet 27″ x 27″, (to fold on lap.) Tea napkins are traditionally a 12-inch square.
Sure, you can buy napkins. Why make them? Make them because you can choose from a multitude of fabrics to match or coordinate with anything you want. There is a much smaller selection of what you can purchase. If you have never sewn fabric before, this project is a perfect beginning. Sewing a straight line is not that difficult. You can do it!
After you master the napkins, you can make a tablecloth. These are specifically for the fairy party. ◄Fairy party details here. The green tablecloth under the teacups in the picture is one I made. You can make a tablecloth the same way as the napkins only on a bigger scale!
Tea Napkins
First, you need to choose fabric for the napkins. You can choose one fabric or a combination of fabrics. The inspiration for the color selection of these fabrics came from the rings of color on three of the teacups and saucers. (My plan was to match each of the 6 cup colors with polka dot fabric but I could only find 3.)
When you have the fabric for the perfect little tea napkins, the next step is washing and drying the fabric. If you don’t wash the fabric before you sew, you may have puckered seams due to fabric shrinkage when you do wash them. Although this is an easy project, do each step the right way and you will have perfect little napkins.
Supplies Needed
- Fabric (Washed and Dried)
- Sewing machine
- Thread
- Scissors or Rotary Cutter, Straight Edge, and Mat
- Iron and ironing board
- Sewing gauge
- water soluble marking pen
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Cut, Fold, and Iron
After you have washed and dried the fabric, you will need to iron it. Since tea napkins are traditionally 12″ square, add 2-inches for the hem and cut a 14-inch square from your fabric. If you are making a different size, just add 2-inches to the size you want and you can easily make a 1/2-inch hem.
You can cut these with scissors but using a self-healing cutting mat, a rotary cutter, and a straight edge makes this so much easier!
Next, fold in 1/2″ and iron the fold on one side. Turn the fabric clockwise. Repeat ironing a 1/2″ fold on this side. Turn the fabric clockwise and repeat on the remaining two sides, folding the corner up and pressing them, too.
Fold in another 1/2″ on all sides, encasing the raw edge, and press this fold with the hot iron, too.
Miter The Corners
Open a corner. Double the measurement of the hem, which is 1/2-inch. 1/2-inch doubled is 1-inch. Measure 1″ from the corner on one side and mark with a disappearing ink marker. Measure 1″ from the corner on the other side and mark. Draw a line connecting the two marks you made.
Fold the corner in half diagonally with the wrong side of the fabric facing outward. The two ends of the lines should line up. Pin to hold the fabric in position. Repeat on the three remaining corners.
Stitch over the line you drew, backstitching at the beginning and the end.
Trim excess corner fabric 1/4″ from the seam you just made.
Turn the corner right side out and push the point of the corner out until nice and pointed. A corner turner
is a nice tool to help with this but I have been known to use a straight pin to do this, too.
Press and steam corners, napkin, and the unstitched hem before topstitching.
Topstitching
Notice that if you pull the fabric in one direction, the fabric doesn’t stretch as much. If you pull the fabric in the opposite direction, the fabric will stretch a little or have more give. The threads that don’t give as much are the warp and run parallel to the selvage edge. The threads that have more give are the weft. It is good to start sewing your hem on one of the edges with less give. Beginning on the edge with less give will decrease the chance of puckering when you backstitch.
Place the foot feed close to one inside corner. Start by backstitching a short distance first. This creates an anchor so the stitching won’t come loose. Stitch over the top of the backstitching and continue stitching to the corner. (I like stitching very close to the edge, as you can see. I just think it looks much neater.)
Lift the presser foot, turn the fabric 45-degrees and continue stitching to the next corner. Turn the fabric and repeat until you have reached your original backstitching. Backstitch to anchor this stitching and trim the threads.
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Press the napkin again. There you are with perfect mitered corners. These are so cute! The girls are going to love them!
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They’re beautiful and I had never given it any thoughts about different sizes for different dining. I’m sewing machine challenged here usually end up pitching my project but looks fun to do,
Thanks, Margie! This is truly an easy project for those who aren’t so confident with a sewing machine and the results are pretty impressive. The process is the same for each size. I once made some of these napkins as a gift for a little girl who admired my tablescapes. They were made to coordinate with some little tin cups presented in a basket.