Supplies
- fat quarter of new Lightweight Cotton Twill
- water erasable fabric pen
- iron
- scissors or rotary blade
- straight pins
- coordinating thread
- clear ruler
- seam guide
Notes
Prewash, dry, and iron the fabric before starting. Be sure to pick cotton thread that coordinates with your fabric. This may not be considered an industry standard napkin size, but for convenience we used one 29″ x 18″ Lightweight Cotton Twill fat quarter of Onion Rings by zoe_ingram.
Step 1: Cut your fabric.
Begin by cutting the white selvedge edges off your fat quarter. If you’re starting from a yard, cut a 29″ x 18″ rectangle of printed fabric.
Step 2: Fold and press edges.
Once your fabric is cut down and before you begin to sew, you will fold and iron your edges. Begin by folding over an edge about half an inch and iron down the entire edge of one side. Be sure to press firmly with the iron, as this will create a guideline for your mitered corner without having to draw a line with your pen. For our napkin, we will fold over the fabric edge by half an inch and iron the entire edge and then fold a second time (half an inch) and iron again. This will create a clean edge on the wrong side of your napkin. Repeat this step for all four sides.
The fold lines should be visible when opening up your fabric, and you will notice that a square has been created, with the outer seam bordering it on two sides. The corner of the square closest to the center of your tea towel / napkin will actually become the outer corner of your finished napkin.
Step 3: Mark and trim your corners.
Using a clear ruler, mark your corner to be trimmed, by creating a diagonal line that aligns with the two opposite points of your inner square as shown above. Using the line you just drew as a guide, snip off the corner of your fabric.
Step 4: Fold and pin.
Fold your fabric in on itself at the corner you just snipped, right sides facing. Pin or clip the fabric together to hold it steady.
Step 5: Sew your corners.
Sew your mitered corner stitch into each corner. Starting at either edge, sew from the diagonal fold toward the edge of your fabric, and half inch from the fabric toward the fold. We highlighted our fold line and stitch lines with the erasable marker.
Step 6: Snip.
Snip the “bulk” out of your corner.
Step 7: Turn the corner out.
Using a chop stick or blunt end of a stick, turn the mitered corner out.
Step 8: Fold and press.
Fold in the raw edge and press with your iron
Step 9: Edge stitch.
Edge stitch your hem with a medium length straight stitch, getting as close to the inner edge of that hem as you can.
You’re done! Marvel at how neat and professional looking your napkin is!
Now that you’ve learned how to miter a corner, there’s practically nothing you can’t do. Climb every mountain! Miter every corner! Get inspired by thousands of designs (this Pasta collection by zoe_ ingram is what I’m currently obsessing over right now) and get to stitchin’! You’re gonna love sewing with the new Lightweight Cotton Twill. Don’t forget to share your mitered corners with us by tagging #spoonflower.
Happy making!
-Theresa
Thank you for a very informative and easy to follow presentation.
I am trying to miter corners on a fleece blanket. Since I cannot iron fleece any other suggestions for making edges flat?
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for your question! While we haven’t personally tested out this method, this tutorial should help get you started. Additionally, if you’re concerned with ironing the fleece, we recommend setting your iron to the polyester setting and using a press cloth to prevent direct contact with the fleece. I hope that helps, but if you have any more questions don’t hesitate to ask! – Meredith
Can’t wait to try this. I love the idea of my own cloth napkins. So pretty!
Was there supposed to be a ‘step 3’ in the instructions?
Thank you, that was clear and concise.
This is so useful. And what a pretty fabric pattern.
THANK YOU for a great Tutorial! I’m saving it!
Most napkins are square. 29″x18″ is an odd size. You never said to cut it down. Is this really the size you are using?
Hi Gaye! When you’re doing-it-yourself, napkins can really be any shape or size you wish them to be. 🙂 For our napkins, we went off the size of a fat quarter of Lightweight Cotton Twill which is 29″ x 18″. Please do not feel obligated to stick to our size of napkin, or society’s size of napkin for that matter! Do your own thing, napkin in whatever way makes you happy.
Thanks for your presentation!
Great presentation!
Thanks!