A blogger friend recently moved. I asked him to send me his address, once he was settled in, so I could send a housewarming gift. He has teased me in the past about my fabric napkins, so I'm sending him some of his very own. An appropriate gift, as he's an environmentalist.
I did stipulate one thing. He couldn't blog about my napkins if he hated them. I can take criticism, but national humiliation I can't. I'm shallow that way.
I like to brag about my napkins. Each one is hand-sewn (alright...I use a machine) using heavy twill fabric. What I'm most proud of are the mitred corners. Napkins that you buy in the store have corners that are folded over. To me, it's cheating. And lazy. Mitred corners are much more time consuming--one napkin, from cut to finish, takes about forty minutes--but the result is decadent.
Here are a few highlights:
Three metres of fabric, ready for cutting. Yes, that is a pattern under there. You'd think a square product wouldn't need a pattern, but there is more information on a pattern than just the size.
Cut and ready to go. Whoever invented the self-healing cutting board and rotary cutter, should be canonized. Eight twenty-one-inch squares of fabric cut in minutes!
After pressing the seam allowance, the corners are sewn, trimmed and turned over. Then the seams are topstitched.
One final press and they're ready to go.
Sorry, my friend, but the plate and placemat stay here.
Soon, I will create a post that shows the time and care taken to create these napkins. It will explain why I charge $35 for a set of four napkins.
I also thought of a way to use the leftover fabric. There isn't enough to make full-sized napkins, but I thought of creating a set about half the size, to be used when having friends over for tea and dessert. You use delicate tea cups, and smaller flatware and china, why not have dainty napkins to go with it?
But more on that on a later post.
