Sometimes, I get ideas in my head which I have to give a try, just to see if they are technically possible.
A recent one is a napkin ring with a cut-out. Don’t ask me why. I never use napkin rings. Like, never ever.
But maybe some of you do… so here is a tutorial. The tutorial uses a star as an example, but of course you can use whichever shape you prefer. Why not use a fish, for when you’re eating fish? (Or celebrating World Fish Migration Day? Partaaaaaay!) Or a heart, for a romantic dinner (as we all know, few things turn a man on more than some home-sewn napkin rings!).
TUTORIAL
Materials for 1 napkin ring:
– Two pieces of woven fabric. Dimensions:
– template: download the star, fish and heart templates here, or make a paper stencil of the shape you would like the cut-out to have. It should be no higher than 5 cm (2″)
– thread, pins, sewing machine, iron, … the usual supplies
Instructions
1. Draw the shape onto the wrong side of one strip of fabric, right in the middle.
Note: I used a template which I cut out of paper. You can download a pdf file with the star, fish, and heart here.
2. Put both pieces with right sides together, and stitch the long edges with your stitch length set at maximum.
3. With the tip of your iron, carefully press open the seams (on both sides).
4. Switch to a small stitch length (e.g., 1.5) and stitch on top of the shape you drew in step one.
5. Cut out the star with scissors, at about 3 mm (1/8″) inside the stitch lines.
6. Remove the basting stitches you made in step 2. Turn the piece right side out through the cut-out.
With a sharp object (chop stick, pen, …) push out all the corners of the figure. Resist the urge to press the edges of your cut-out, as this might disrupt the folds you pressed in step 3.
Note: It is perfectly normal for your piece to look totally crappy at this point.
7. We’ll now stitch the back of the napkin ring. Put both ends of the top strip with right sides together, and stitch at 0,7 cm (1/4″). Repeat for the ends of the bottom strip.
8. Finally, we’ll close the sides of the ring. Because you pressed the seams in step 3, this will be really easy. Just turn the ring right side out, pin the layers with wrong sides together, and topstitch the edges.
9. Press all the seams so they look nice and neat. Tadaa!
About the fabrics I used…
– Napkin fabric: Stamped Grove Daylight, designed by Katarina Roccella for Art Gallery (Indelible line), bought at Bellelien.
– Solid fabric: Cotton Couture Solids Gold (bought at Hawthorne Threads)
– Star fabric used in tutorial pictures: Star Mustard, designed by Melody Miller for Cotton + Steel (thanks again for the ultrafast delivery, Bellelien!)
