How to Sew Cloth Napkins

First pre-wash and iron your fabric.

Now I’m going to cut a square from my front and back fabrics. I’m making these napkins 18” square. The front fabric will fold over the edges of the back, creating a 1” border with mitered corners. To account for the amount needed for this border I’m adding 3” to the finished dimensions, so I’m cutting a 21” square. Cut the back fabric half an inch smaller than the finished dimensions, so 17.5”.

Take your front fabric and fold over the edges 1/2” and press. Then fold all edges over again 1” (or however wide you want your border to be) and iron.

Open the second crease so just half an inch is folded over. Measure 2 times the width of your border from the corner down each side. Draw a line connecting the two marks.

Next fold the corner in half diagonally with the wrong side facing out. Make sure the two marks line up and pin it together.

Repeat these steps on the other corners.

Sew down the marked line, back stitch at the beginning and end and sew all the way to the edges.

Cut off the excess fabric about ¼” from the seam. Turn it right side out and push out the point of the corner. Now the mitered corner is created. Repeat this on the other 3 corners.

Next center the back fabric on the mitered corner side of the napkin with the right side up. Lift the edges and tuck the back fabric under the border. Pin the pieces together.

Finally, top stitch around the napkin, about 1/8” from the inner edge of the border. Back stitch just a couple of stitches at the beginning and end. Your double sided fabric napkin is now complete!