Cloth napkins: a sort-of tutorial

I spent a very long time thinking about making cloth napkins.  I like the idea of not cramming so many paper napkins in the trash and saving a bit of money is a bonus, too.  I spent most of the summer contemplating; I wasn't sure if I would like cloth napkins, nor did I have the time to make them (although the kind I made are not complicated).  Finally at the beginning of August I had time to put my curiosity to the test.  

I had a lot of material in a very long strip left over from the backing of the queen sized bed quilt I made my parents for their 30th anniversary.  It is 100% cotton and I'm not even sure if it's the best kind of material for cloth napkins, but it's what I had.

I cut the material into 12 inch x 12 inch squares which makes the finished napkins 11 inches square.  Typically cloth napkins are about 16 inches square but my material scraps were not that wide so 11 inches is what we've got here.  

I wanted to do this as quickly as possible and not mess with pins so before I pressed the edges over I soaked them with water from the iron (later I just got out a squirt bottle and the process went even faster).  I doubt this is a great way to sew, but it saved time.

I folded over the edges about 1/4 inch and pressed them down.  Then, I folded them over again 1/4 inch and pressed.  This hid the raw edge and gave the napkin a nicer look.  

I did basic square corners.  Once I had pressed all four sides, I was ready to sew.  

I do not have any sewing photos because it is difficult enough to find time to sit and sew and stopping to take pictures takes too much time.  ;)  I used some different colored thread and found a fancy-looking stitch on the machine to sew with.  It was just straight stitching along the edges and this stitch has a crooked look to it which meant that I didn't have to make my stitch perfectly straight and that meant I could go a little faster.

Here are the finished products.  I have six of these with two each of blue, green, and peach thread.  They aren't the prettiest things ever but that wasn't my goal.

I also made four turquoise napkins out of some different scrap fabric.  This is cotton broadcloth.  It's a little thicker and it looks nicer over all.

 

After about a month of using them, I really, really like these napkins.  They are wrinkly (I don't iron them) but they are actually better napkins than the super cheap-o paper napkins I used to buy.  And don't worry, if you come to visit our house I still have paper napkins on hand for when these cloth are dirty.  I think I need to make another set!