Dear community,
in this blog post you can find tipps & instructions on how to make a beautiful fabric napkins – perfect for Christmas eve and other festive occasions.

What could be better than sitting at a beautifully laid table with your family, celebrating Christmas? A well-laid table always has good food and cosy lighting, and of course napkins are essential! My drawers are full of paper napkins in all sorts of colours and types. At Christmas, however, I always bring out my linen napkins to go with the beautifully laid table and silver cutlery. These give any table a special touch and always look elegant, whether they are grey, white or ecru. In the Advent calendar today, I will show you how quickly and easily you can sew these beautiful napkins!

Size and cutting out

First, I cut the linen fabric to the required size. For my napkins, I cut the fabric to a size of 46 x 46 cm and the finished napkins are 40 x 40 cm. The measurements include a seam allowance of 1 cm and a hem width of 2 cm.

Fold over and press the seam allowance and hem edge

After the fabric pieces have been cut and pressed, I measure a seam allowance of 1 cm all the way round and press it down on the reverse side of the fabric.

Measured from the pressed edge, I then fold over and press the hem edge, which in my case is 2 cm wide. Here, the seam allowance is folded under.

Pressed edges

Unfolded, the whole thing looks like this.

At the point where the inner pressed edges intersect, a triangle is folded inwards and then pressed. As you do this, make sure that the other creases run parallel to each other.

Pinning and sewing mitred corners

Pin the napkin together at the corner with the right sides together, keeping the seam allowances folded inwards.

Now sew across the edge that was last pressed inwards. I have marked this here in blue tailor’s chalk. Sew the start and end of the seam securely.

Cut off the excess material close to the edge.

Shaping the corners

Turn the hem edges inwards and use scissors to shape the corners.

Sewing the hem

Press the turned corners and edges well. Then sew round the hems. For this, I used BERNINA Edgestitch foot No. 10. As shown in the picture, you can guide the BERNINA Edgestitch foot No. 10 along the hems on the right side of the fabric and topstitch close to the edges of the hem. For this I moved the needle position 2 places to the right.

For thicker fabrics, you can also use the BERNINA Edgestitch foot No.10 on the wrong side, allowing you to sew the hem close to the edge. And you’re done!

Uses of linen napkins

Napkins have other uses too. I especially like it when they are used as placemats. Napkins are also ideal for lining a bread basket.

As a mat for a decanter, a bottle or glasses, they also look attractive and at the same time protect the table from scratches.