Christine Sews

Cloth napkins are one of those inexpensive, easy to make items that can feel luxurious in a kitchen.  I made nine of them in less than an hour, with one yard of fabric.  And I got to indulge my obsession with this Michael Miller French Country fabric.

Any fabric that is absorbent, and can tolerate a good deal of washing can be used.  I prefer medium or brightly colored prints, because spots do not show as much as on the fabric.  Classic white is nice too, especially if you decide to make large napkins.

How to Make Cloth Napkins:

• To make everyday napkins, cut nine twelve inch squares from a yard of fabric.
• Finish the edges with a serger rolled hem or use a sewing machine to hem.  (I used a serger, with a modified stitch, but not a rolled hem.  The rolled hem is preferable.)

The napkins in this example are casual, everyday napkins.  I have to do laundry anyway right?  Might as well save a tree.  For more formal napkins, hem and miter the edges.  Larger napkins are nice to have too.  14 x 14 and 16 x 16 are also standard napkin sizes.

This photo illustrates my experience with Maxi Lock serger thread quality.   This is the second time.

Can you see the severed threads hanging in the middle of the cone?

I need to develop stronger brand loyalties and aversions.

We have a lot of cooking magazines.  They tend to make their way into the kitchen and get misplaced.  Since the curtains and table linens are French Country… a custom magazine holder was in order.  There is actually no sewing involved.  Get out the glue gun.

How to Make a Magazine Holder:

• Turn on a glue gun to pre-heat.
• Cut up a box.  Lay your magazine(s) on top of what will become the back and side pieces of the box to be sure that they will fit.  Leave an extra inch.
• Lay the box pieces on top of a folded piece of fabric.  Cut around in a square, leaving about three inches.
  
• Tape up your box sides.  (Masking tape is better than painters tape.  I just couldn’t find it.)
• Remove one square of fabric and set it aside.
• Cut wedges out of the remaining square, so that your box is framed by a cross.
• Place a generous amount of glue in the bottom and up the inner sides of the box.  Place the cross shaped fabric inside, right side up and arrange it into place. Glue the ends over the top of the sides.  (Staples can be helpful wherever they won’t show too.)
• Turn the square shaped fabric wrong side up, with the box on top of it.  Use a generous amount of glue to secure it over the sides and into the top few inches of the box on the wider sides first.
• Repeat on the narrower sides, wrapping like a package.
• Allow to dry.

My fabric got a bit wrinkled during construction.  I’ll press it lightly when the hot glue is completely cool and I get the iron out.

Do you have a really messy desk you want to cover?  That’s what this is, a table that we use as a desk.  It houses a printer, two monitors and miscellaneous office stuff.  It was an eyesore.  If you look closely, you can see that I constructed it in panels, not one continuous piece, so that cords can run under from various locations.

Finally, I have knocked it off the UFO list.  This project was lengthy.  And when I got frustrated, became even longer, because I put it away and ignored it for a few weeks.

Steps to make a fitted tablecloth.

• Measure the table.
• Cut the panels and top pattern pieces.  (For this example, I used one panel on each end, and two in the front, leaving the back open for legs.)
• Create custom bias tape .
• Create upholstery piping from the bias tape, attach.
• Finish the edge of panels and hem.  (It sounds backward, but works well.)
• Gather the top edge of panels.  (Really frustrating when you are not accustomed to gathering fabric the weight and texture of your current project.)
• Attach panels.

This is one of the corners.  I actually found gathering heavy, decorator fabric to be more challenging than making and attaching upholstery piping, and turning the corner with it.  The piping and bias tape were time consuming.  But I’ve gotten quite used to them.

The piped corner appears rounded on the exterior, but the construction is at an angle.