Week Of Frugal Fall Ideas: Napkins

I still had summery-looking napkins on my table so I decided to whip up something a little more Autumn-looking so that I’d have something pretty and useful on my table.

A little while ago I wrote a cloth napkin tutorial at Smart Family Tips. That tutorial works great for solid colored napkins or any fabric that doesn’t have a ‘wrong’ side. However, the fabric I had for my Autumn napkins is dark and has an awful-looking wrong side so I needed a different technique this time.

Here’s what I did: Sewed two rectangles of fabric together (right sides facing) leaving a 2-inch gap on one side. Clipped the corners. Turned it right-side out through the open gap. Poked out the corners and ironed it flat. Then top-stitched around the perimeter (being sure to close the open gap). Done. Confusing? Email me.

So, I had some new adorable napkins but my table still looked a little bare. I’m not much of a tablecloth person right now because I can’t seem to keep them clean for more than a day. I just prefer to wipe down the bare table. So I decided to sew a little table mat, ya know, instead of a table runner that would just get pushed all over the place anyway. I made it reversible so I don’t get bored of it too quickly and made it sturdy so it had a little structure. Really, it’s probably just like a place mat – except I don’t use those either, so it’s a centerpiece mat

Here’s what I did: Cut 2 rectangles – one of them 2 inches larger than the other (ex.  12×16 & 14×18). Cut a piece of quilt batting the same size as the smaller rectangle. Layer the mat as it should appear – large rectangle facing down then quilt batting then small rectangle facing up. Fold large rectangle edges over and then over again on top of the small rectangle, making a border. Pin as you go. Top stitch around the border you just pinned. Done. Confusing? Email me.

I know I was a little skimpy on the instructions but I wasn’t really aiming for a tutorial. I just want to get your creative ideas flowing. Customizing useful things in my home makes it so that I’m decorating without purchasing things I don’t actually need. And I really didn’t – as usual, I made my napkins and mat all with leftover supplies from other projects.

Why I do what I do ~ I reorganized Chloe’s books yesterday on a new shelf. She spotted “Twas The Night Before Christmas” and grabbed it to read. I usually pack it away with the Christmas decorations but clearly I’d forgotten to. She took a deep dramatic breath and exclaimed, “Look! It’s Sanny Claus!”Have you liked Domestic Cents on Facebook yet?

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Tagged as: Fall, Sewing