Making cloth napkins
 

What fabric would you use to make cloth napkins? Regular quilting fabric? Linen? Or????

I just made some for a customer I used white kona monogrammed them white I did a mitered corner about 3/4 of an inch hem they were beautiful

The ones I made were homespun Christmas plaid. I fringed the edges. They've held up well.

I have been making napkins for years - I use quilters cottons, shirting fabric, rayon, cotton/poly blends. I even have some that are kind of a lightweight duck fabric and some that are a lightweight flannel. I used to serge the edges, and then found that I liked it better when I turned them under 3/8 of an inch, and then another 3/8 of an inch and topstitched them with matching thread. They measure 19" before I hem them. When I compared store bought ones, I found that the wider hems and larger size made them look more upscale.

I use mostly quilting cottons because of the novelty fabrics available. I make them for myself and my family, and they are for daily use instead of "company". I just serge mine, but I agree a double rolled hem would look nicer. Umm. Maybe this is what I need for motivation to learn how to use my rolled hem attachments!

Pam

I have made them out of Kona cotton and they have held up well, although when I make them again, I will use some-thing a little heavier. Also, the fabric shop I go to in Kalamazoo, MI sells tablecloth fabric which is heavier. I bought it
some time ago, but the napkins are still waiting to be made.

eunice drew, I assume the fabric shop you are referring to is Field's Fabrics. I love that store and when I'm in Kalamazoo area I always stop at Fields. I also love Yoder's in Shipshewana IN for fabric. They also have table cloth fabric. Great idea using table cloth fabric. Thanks.

Out of all the thousands of yards of fabric I've plowed through over the years, the things I like most are my napkins.
http://kalamaquilts.blogspot.com/2008/12/napkins.html
I use them every single day, think about where I got that fabric from, and toss them in the wash.
When the come out of the dryer I just tri-fold them and give a hand smoother press ;)

The only thing I'd change is I'd have made them an inch or two bigger.
They are plenty big enough for the job, they just feel a chintzy size in the hand
I used quilting cotton from my stash.

5 years of use they are still sturdy with maybe just a little fading.

Thank you for the info.

Thank you all. I'm going to make some on New Year's Day so in 2014 we will use fewer of the "napkins" we now use (they come on a roll and some people call them a paper towels!) I'm going to get some fabric Monday and try the fold over twice hemming technique. I don't have a serger.
Happy New Year all!