Christmas in July Blog Hop: Day 4

Christmas in July continues with a week of holiday-themed tutorials! Stop by each day this week to see the featured tutorial and find out how you can enter to win the fabric line being used!

Today Cynthia from Quilting is more fun than Housework (and yes, it is!) is sharing the perfect quick and easy gift idea for the holidays. She's made double-sided napkins using the Holiday Cheer collection by Maria Kalinowski for Kanvas. These novelty prints are sew much fun!

Here's Cynthia:

Welcome to my stop on the Benartex Christmas in July Blog Hop.  Benartex has so many fun collections coming out for the holidays it was hard to choose a favorite.  But when I saw the Holiday Cheer collection, I immediately had the perfect project in mind.

Bright colored candies and cocktail treats....This collection was screaming to be made into party napkins!  They are pretty easy to make so I thought I would include a tutorial in case you want to get started on your holiday sewing.

The first step is to get the fabric pre-washed (to remove shrinkage) and then pressed.  I use either starch or a starch alternative like Best Press to get it really nice and flat.

 You will want to remove the selvages and square up the pressed fabric to the size you desire.  

 

When cutting your fabric to size, you will need to compensate for the 2.5" you will lose in the finished edging. For my 14" napkins, I cut a 16.5" square.

 At your ironing board, fold down 1/4" and press to the wrong side around all 4 sides of the cloth..  I use a small ruler to help with this.  

You can also mark your fabric with a light pencil line on the wrong side if that is easiest to follow.  

(Using Best Press on this step will help to ensure the fold doesn't open up in handling.)

  Next, with the 1/4" still pressed down, you will fold in and press an additional 1" on all 4 sides of the cloth.  Once again, the use of starch or Best Press will keep the folds from opening up.

On a flat surface, open up the 1" fold but keep the 1/4" fold, down.  In the corners, draw a line at 45 degrees through where the fold marks intersect.  I use the 45 degree mark on my ruler to line up with either the edge of the cloth or the fold mark.  Remember to mark all four corners.

Now fold the corners right side together (keeping the 1/4" folded down).  The outer edge of the cloth should be lined up and come to a point. Sew on the pencil line, remembering to back stitch at the beginning and end of the stitch line.  Sew all four corners.

 

Trim the corner about 1/4" from the stitched line.  I may also trim away some of the bulk at the corner where the fold is to help keep the points sharp.

 Now just fold in and you will get a nice mitered corner with a sharp point.  I use one of my cutting rulers to slide into the point to push them all the way out.  Give all the edges another press.

At this point, you can choose not to line your napkins and just top stitch around the mitered edge (see below) - or you can get even more festive and line your napkins with a coordinating fabric.

I cut a 13" square and tucked it under the mitered edge.  I then pinned all the layers around the edge to make top stitching a little easier.

 

In a nice contrasting or complimentary thread (your choice), stitch along the inside fold about 1/16" from the edge.  Remember to backstitch when you start out.  To turn the corners, put the needle down right in the miter, lift the presser foot and turn. I also backstitch at the end.

And there you have it - fun holiday napkins!

Perfect little gifts for that favorite hostess...

 Or put them away for use at your own holiday party.  

Aren't the prints adorable in this Holiday Cheer collection!

Thanks, Cynthia! Head over to Cynthia's blog to enter for a chance to win a FQ bundle of Holiday Cheer fabric! 

Don't miss our Christmas in July tutorials all this week!

Monday: Chris from made by ChrissieD, featuring Jolly Penguin and Friends

Tuesday: Debby from Debby Kratovil Quilts, featuring My Little Chickadee

Wednesday: Alison from Little Bunny Quilts, featuring Sparkle

Thursday: Cynthia from Quilting is more fun than Housework, featuring Holiday Cheer

Friday: Benartex blog design team featuring Joyful

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Holiday Gift Blog Hop: Day 4

Christmas countdown: 20 days!

Are you ready?

This week, we'll be sharing tutorials for last-minute homemade gift ideas. Skip the stores (well, except your local quilt shop!) and spend time at your sewing 

machine instead. 

Today Kristen from KD Quilts is here, sharing a super-easy tutorial for making mitered corner cloth napkins. As in so easy, you'll never use paper napkins again (well, maybe that's not true--that would be a lot of washing!). Kristen used a couple prints from the ultra cool Boy Meets Girl collection from Kanvas. Mod flowers and a large-scale herringbone--perfect for any table setting! Check out Kristen's tutorial and and at the end you'll see how you can enter to win a 

fat quarter bundle of the Boy Meets Girl prints.

The holidays are here! And with the holidays comes parties (and hostess gifts), and little tokens of friendship to neighbors and friends. During this busy season, there's not a lot of time to create, but that doesn't mean you have to write off handmade gifts! Benartex fabrics put together a list of some great tutorials for those last minute handmade gift ideas. I love cloth napkins. With two small children, we go through a lot of paper towels and so it's nice to use cloth when possible....and they don't have to be saved for special meals! I'm sharing a super quick tutorial on self binding, mitered corner napkins today. In about 30 minutes, you can have a set of four cloth napkins that are great for everyday!

Self Binding Napkins

When you go purchase cloth dinner napkins, they are typically 16-18 inches. I like the large dinner napkins since they are easily folded into fun shapes, so I chose to make 18 inch napkins. This tutorial is easily adjusted for any size napkin. Obviously, the smaller the napkin, the more you can get from your fabric. Add 1/2 inch to your squares from the desired finished size. I also made my binding large on the front. For a more narrow binding, reduce the measurement on the larger square. (I made mine 2 inches larger)

You need:

Four 5/8 yard cuts yield four dinner size napkins

rotary cutting and basic sewing supplies

Cutting:

18.5 inch square for front/interior

20.5 inch square for back/binding

Let's Begin:

Fold both pieces in half, then half again and heavily press. These creases will identify center points.

 

 Right sides together, line up center points at one side. Pin in place and sew with a 1/4 inch seam, stopping 1/4 inch from the end.

   

 Slide the next side to the edge. Match up center points, pin, sew again. Repeat for all four sides, leaving a hole in one side for turning. Your corners won't look perfect. In fact, they look kinda flopy and weird. This is normal.

 

 

 Fold napkin so that stitches from two edges meet. This will make a point at one of your corners.

 

 Trim off excess from where stitches end. Sew down the trimmed edge.  

 Turn through the hole you left. Make sure all the corners are sharp. Chopsticks work great for this! Press the bottom down so the back/binding comes up. (This reminded me of a shallow bowl.)

Take the napkin to the ironing board and fold down the binding. The corners should all meet up nicely. Press. A lot. If you are a glue baster, this would be a great time to do so.

  

 Top stitch 1/8 inch around the edge. Press one last time for a super crisp, flat napkin.

 

 That's it! Easy peasy. Napkins can make a great gift paired with some kitchen/cooking/baking goodies or even used for wrapping a bottle of wine.

 

Thank you, Benartex Fabrics, for having me today as part of your blog hop! I have been loving all of the gift ideas!

Thanks Kristen!
Head over to Kristen's blog to find out how you can win a fat quarter bundle of the Boy Meets Girl fabric collection.

Check out our other quick and easy holiday gift tutorials!
Day 1: Baby blocks using Safari Playground

Day 2: Travel sewing kit using Made with Love

Day 3: Berry basket of coasters using Origins
Day 5: Bow banner using Zoey
Day 6: Handy golf bag using On the Green

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