Thanksgiving napkins

 

Now that we're officially in Thanksgiving week, I think it's appropriate to unveil my completed Thanksgiving napkins.  Who am I kidding, I just finished these this weekend.

Laptop case

Last weekend I bought a new laptop for grad school.  It was a tough call, but I went with the 13" MacBook Air.  Since it is so light and fragile compared to my old computer, I wanted to make it a case to protect it a little bit.

Patio Chair Cushions

Word of my sewing abilities has started to spread around my office.  It's not rare for a coworker to ask if I've made something I'm wearing.  I enjoy talking about sewing, so it's nice that people notice.  It's even nicer when they ask if I've made one of my favorite RTW pieces. I've also started to receive a different sort of attention for my sewing. 

Spring napkins

After this long, enduring winter (it's currently snowing out), I wanted to make something springy. On Pinterest, I saw some floral napkins, so I decided to make some festive napkins of my own.

One night after work, I went to Joann's and picked out a trio of coordinating quilting cottons.  It was so nice to have the selection of all of the quilting cottons.  Sometimes their apparel selection seems pretty limited.  

The most muted of the bunch is a muted turquoise and cream polka dot print. My dining room table is turquoise, so having accompanying napkins seemed natural. I used a cream colored muslin for the opposite side of the muslins. 

The second print also has polka dots--and flowers, too. Because the three fabrics are all in the same color family, I was able to use the same thread from my stash for all of the napkins. 

And finally we have a teal, green, and blue print on a cream background.  

It's super easy to make napkins.  I wanted my napkins to be 16" squares, so first I cut out 17" square pieces of fabric. Right sides together, I sewed them together using a 1/2" seam allowance and leaving a space to turn the pieces inside out.  I trimmed the corners and seams and then turned the napkins right side out.  The next step is very important: ironing.  Finally, I topstitched the napkins about 1/4" from the edge. Check out that topstitching... 

Abstract

Pattern: None

Fabric: Three quilting cottons and muslin from Joann's

Cost: About $10

Time: 4 hours for 6 napkins