Cloth Napkins from a Pillowcase

Last summer when I visited my parents back east, I was inspired: my mom uses cloth napkins for every meal! She has a whole drawer full, so it doesn't even matter how many people are over for dinner. And if the napkin is mostly clean it stays at your place on the table for multiple meals – kind of like reusing a bath towel. I had already been thinking about how many paper napkins (OK, paper towels) I used at every meal, and wishing there was some way to lessen the number. Voila: cloth napkins!

My mom let me bring home four of hers, and we use them faithfully. I thought four would be plenty for three people, but I was wrong. One “spare” isn't enough. My mom sent me some additional ones at Christmas time, but they got lost in the mail! So I needed a solution.  I am by no means an expert sewer, but I figured, "hey, it's just a square with a hem around it," and thought I could probably do it.

I did just a little research on making cloth napkins (there are many tutorials available! I used this one, with a few modifications). It's really not difficult at all if you have any sewing ability at all – you need to be able to cut a square, iron, pin, and sew a relatively straight seam. (I have some great square-cutting tools because at one time I thought I might start to quilt, and back then I had the money to indulge my hobby. If you don't have a cutting mat and wheel, you can always cut a square pattern to follow, or just use your scissors as you measure. Napkins don't have to be perfect anyway!)

A huge amount of fabric presented itself this week when I got new sheets. The old ones are in fairly good shape (just a little worn in places), and as a bonus they're one of my favorite colors! And I get bonus “green” points for be able to reuse them as napkins, right?

The pillowcases looked especially promising because they're almost the right size for a napkin to start with.

Here's what I did:

(Please note: I didn't take very many pictures, and the ones I took aren't overly clear. If you're having trouble following or are looking for a really good tutorial, please use the link above instead!)

Iron pillowcase to remove any large wrinkles. Lay out on a cutting mat (or other surface to cut on).

 

Cut off finished edge and side seam.

Cut out two squares at least 18” x18”. (With a pillowcase, it's really easy to do two at once because the layers match up so neatly!)

 

Working with one square at a time, turn over the edge ½” and press. Turn over again so you have a finished edge and press. Repeat on each side.  (I didn't measure.  I just eyeballed it.  And so my napkins have a little more character than they would if I bought them.  If you want to use a ruler with yours, go right ahead!)

Once you've pressed all four sides, use the lines you've ironed in to pin the seam closed. At the corners, you can trim a little fabric to reduce bulk if you want to. (if this part doesn't make sense, see that tutorial!) 

Sew all the way around, staying close to the inside edge. (In the tutorial I was following she sewed along each edge separately. Since the backstitch doesn't work on my machine, I just did one big square, turning at the corners and overlapping at the ends.)

Finish off strings – I like to do this by pulling them all to one side (in this case the side I sewed on), tying the corresponding ends together in a couple tiny knots so they're less likely to come unraveled, and cutting them very close to the fabric – do whatever seems good to you.

Fold and use

There you go. In about two hours I had used both pillowcases to make four napkins. Then I cut the rest of the sheets up too! After taking away the worn bits, I got 25 more napkins cut out! That's 29 cloth napkins for free! I either have enough to give some as presents or to use when I have a massive dinner party.

So go...find some scrap fabric or an old pillowcase.  And have some fun!