Kitsch-up your table with these bold ruffle-edge napkins!
MATERIALS
35cm² quilting weight fabric for napkin
50cm (w) x 25cm (h) quilting weight fabric for ruffle (this is to make one long strip, so if you have a longer piece of fabric, that would work too!)
Thread to match fabrics
Standard sewing kit and sewing machine
NOTE: It’s easiest to use fabrics without directional patterns for this project

METHOD
1. For our ruffle we want to make one long (roughly 2m) strip. If you’re starting with a 50cm-wide piece, mark and cut into four strips, each 50cm long by 5.5cm.

Lay out one of your strips, right-side up, and lay a second strip on top, right-side down. Pin at one narrow end and sew that edge with a 1cm seam allowance. Trim the seam allowance to 5mm and sew along the edge of the seam allowance with a zigzag stitch to prevent fraying. Unfold and press.

Repeat, adding the remaining strips, to make one really long strip.2. Fold one long edge of your strip over, right-side out, by 5mm and then 5mm again, pressing with an iron to hold in place. Once you’ve completed that edge, do the same with the other long edge.

Stitch along one of the folded edges to hold in place, but leave the other unsewn.3. Thread a hand-sewing needle with a doubled (for strength) length of thread. Make a few stitches to secure your thread to one end of your ruffle strip and sew a running stitch along the unsewn long edge of the ruffle strip. Your stitches should be around 3mm long.

Every few centimetres, stop and gently pull on the threads you are sewing with, causing the edge of the strip to ruffle up as the threads bunch together.

When you get to the end of your length of thread, secure with a few stitches and begin the process again from that point. Do this all the way along your ruffle.4. Take your square of fabric for the napkin and lay out right-side down. Fold each of the edges in by 5mm and then 5mm again (right-side out), pressing to hold.

Lay the fabric out again, right-side down. Lay your ruffle along the edge of your square, so the gathered edge overlaps the edges of the square by 5mm (covering the folded-in edge of the fabric square), pinning in place as you go.

When you’ve pinned your ruffle all the way around, overlap the ends by 1cm and trim any excess away. Pin those ends together so that the fabric is face-to-face and sew with a 1cm seam allowance. Trim to 5mm and sew with a zigzag stitch, so it matches the other seams in your ruffle.

Now sew all the way around the inner-edge of your ruffle, about 2mm in, attaching it to the square of fabric, and you’re all done!Repeat to make as many napkins as you like!See more cool stuff from Anna Alicia over here.

This article was originally posted on September 1, 2022.