For Thanksgiving, or just for a meal with an Autumn feel, these napkin rings are decorated with simple designs of Fall – leaves, an acorn, a mushroom, an apple and a pumpkin. Each design is bracketed by modest scrolls
The napkin rings themselves are a heavier fabric, and the stitching area is supported by some iron-on interfacing. To prevent puckering when turning the tube into a ring, the fabric is cut on the bias.
I chose chain stitch for this project, as it is great for outlines. Using a thicker thread combined with short stitches gives a lovely solid look to the stitching. As I was using an iron transfer pencil I tested the width of the stitching over the transferred line to ensure it covered the mark. While these napkin rings will take light laundering, most transfer pens and pencils are permanent.
Each napkin ring is made from a rectangle of fabric 18cm x 12cm. This includes 1cm seam allowance all around. The iron-on interfacing is 16cm x 5cm, which is centred on the wrong side of fabric. Our downloadable resource shows the placement of the design on the fabric, and the grainline for cutting the rectangles on the bias.
When constructing the napkin rings, turning the tube was a little tricky. The biggest challenge, however, came in the task of joining the two ends of the tube to make the ring. In this case, it was partly due to the size of the tube, and partly the choice of fabric. A lighter fabric would have been easier to manipulate.
When joining the two ends, line up the outsides of the ring, sewing from one edge to the other along the seam allowance. If possible, stitching from just either side of this edge will make the final closing of the gap a little easier.
With the embroidered side of the napkin rings on the inside of the ring, carefully fold the remaining seam allowance under, so the folded edges meet, and can be stitched together using ladder stitch.
Ladder stitch is popular for closing a seam from the right side, with minimal visible stitching. The trick to a successful ladder stitch is to keep your cross-wise stitches perpendicular to the folded edges, and have the needle go through the fabric just along the folded edge of the seam allowance.
And of course the design of the napkin rings lends itself nicely to any occasion, simply by swapping out the Fall themed images with another – Christmas, for example.
The embroidery of these napkin rings made for a very portable craft, easy to take with you as the equipment list is short and the number of threads was low. Change the colours to match your décor, your napkins, or your dining set.
A straightforward project using just one stitch, the embroidery is suitable for a confident beginner.
https://koalastitchingstudio.store/resources-to-download