Your Sewing Machine's Hidden Gem: The Decorative Stitch Napkin Tutorial

Emily Taylor · 2026-09-10

During National Sewing Month, we're giving some extra love to the machine that brings our creative ideas to life. This year, we're exploring the often-overlooked library of decorative stitches on our sewing machines and using them to give napkins an heirloom-worthy finish. ### Why Decorative Stitches? Decorative stitches are like the secret superpower of your sewing machine. They can turn a simple project into something truly special. And the best part? You don't need any fancy techniques—just a bit of curiosity and the right settings. ### What You'll Need Before we dive in, let's gather our supplies. Here's what you'll need to make your own set of decorative stitch napkins: - Woven fabric (we used a Summer Solstice Woven Fat Quarter Bundle, but any woven works) - Contrasting thread (we used 50wt Aurifil in Yellow and Midnight) - Totally Stable Iron-on Tear-Away Stabilizer by Sulky - A pen or pencil - Sweet Snips 6-inch Fabric Scissors ### Step-by-Step Tutorial #### Step 1: Prepare Your Fabric First, decide on the size of your napkins. We wanted ours to look like little hankies, so we cut our fabric to roughly 12" x 12" for a finished size of 11" x 11". You can make yours any size—just cut your fabric about 1 inch larger than your desired finished size to allow for trimming. Next, cut four 1.5-inch strips of stabilizer roughly the same length as your fabric. With the textured side touching the fabric, iron the stabilizer onto the perimeter of your fabric. Then, using a pen or pencil and a ruler, mark the desired finished size of your napkin onto the stabilizer. This will be your stitching guide. #### Step 2: Dive into Your Decorative Stitches Take one of your prepared fabric pieces and use it as a tester. Every decorative stitch is different, and by playing with the width and length settings on your machine, you can control the scale and density of each stitch. As you experiment, write the stitch number and settings you used next to it on the stabilizer. Trust us, you'll want to remember which ones you love! #### Step 3: Stitch and Cut Your Napkins Now that you've chosen your stitches and know the perfect settings, it's time to work on the real napkins. Load a bobbin with your colored thread so both sides of the stitch match. We found it easiest to cut away the excess fabric after tearing away the outer stabilizer and leaving the inner stabilizer. Put on a good podcast or a movie, grab a pair of sharp fabric scissors, and trim away. The result? Beautiful, professional-looking napkins with a personal touch. ### Share Your Creations We can't wait to see the decorative stitches your machine has to offer! If you make your own napkins, share them with us on Facebook and Instagram and tag @fatquartershop so we can see and share your work. Happy Sewing!