How To Sew A Reversible Napkin
Cut two pieces of fabric the same square size. If you want to conserve fabric and use your yardage wisely, you can cut 3 squares from a piece of fabric 42 - 45" wide (standard bolt sizes). Each square will be 13 1/2". However, your napkins will not be very large (perfect for ladies and the younger crowd). Because I only had 3/4 a yard, I opted to do this, but I prefer to cut my napkins 17 1/2" square. Obviously, it costs more to do this, but it's an option all the same.
Next, pin your ric-rac to the edge of the right side of the first fabric. I set my stitch length to baste and moved my needle to the right so that the basting stitch would be hidden in the seam.
Stitch around the napkin edge...
and tuck the corner in or fold it inward...
and keep going until you return to the beginning. Trim the excess ric-rac.
Lay the second fabric on top with the first fabric with the right sides facing each other.
Match the edges and pin all the way around.
Readjust your stitch length to a normal setting (mine is about 2.5) and move your needle back to the center position. Stitch around the edge about 1/4" or so - just inside the basting stitch (you want the basting stitch on the right and the new stitching on the left).
Be sure to leave an opening to turn the napkin. You can barely see my opening in the picture below, but it's about 5-6 inches wide on the bottom edge.
Cut the bulk off the corners as shown below (I actually tapered it even more with a second and third cut, but forgot to photograph that)...
Turn the napkin inside out and press the edges so they are completely open and flat. Press the opening as well so that it lies flat like you want it to be when it's sewn shut.
Stitch around the outer edge. I believe I stitched mine at 1/4", but you can do it any width you like. This time you'll stitch all the way around, including the opening.
Press and you're done! I like to do these in an assembly line so that I do all the steps on each napkin at the same time.
I wish I had taken a picture of the stack when I was finished. They looked so fun! A few of these paired with some woven placemats or a cookbook make a lovely wedding gift! (At least I thought so.)
