The Decorative Stitch Trick That Turns Simple Napkins Into Heirlooms

Emma Vermeer · 2026-09-10

National Sewing Month is the perfect excuse to show some extra love to the machine that brings our creative ideas to life. This year, we're digging into the often-overlooked library of decorative stitches on our sewing machines and using them to give plain napkins an heirloom-worthy finish. Trust me, once you see how easy it is, you'll wonder why you ever ignored those stitches. ### What You'll Need Before we dive in, gather your supplies. You don't need much, and you probably already have most of it. - Woven fabric: We used a Summer Solstice Woven Fat Quarter Bundle by Pieces to Treasure for Moda Fabrics. The woven texture gives the napkins a delicate, airy feel that pairs beautifully with sturdy decorative stitches. - Contrasting thread: We used 50wt Aurifil in Yellow and Midnight. Pick colors that make you smile. - Totally Stable Iron-on Tear-Away Stabilizer by Sulky - A pen or pencil - Sweet Snips 6-inch Fabric Scissors ### Step 1: Prepare Your Fabric First, decide on the size of your napkins. We wanted ours to look like little hankies, so we cut the fabric to roughly 12" x 12" for a finished size of 11" x 11". You can make yours any size you like. Just remember to cut the fabric about 1" larger than your desired finished size so you have room to trim. Next, cut four 1.5" strips of stabilizer that are roughly the same length as your fabric. With the textured side touching the fabric, iron the stabilizer onto the perimeter of the 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 Now comes the fun part. Choose one of your prepared fabric pieces to use 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 so you don't forget. It's like creating your own little stitch dictionary. > "The best way to learn your machine's decorative stitches is to play. There are no mistakes, only discoveries." ### Step 3: Stitch and Cut Your Napkins Once you've found a few stitches you love and know the perfect settings for each, it's time to work on the real napkins. If you haven't already, load a bobbin with your colored thread so both sides of the stitch match. We found it easiest to cut away the excess fabric when we tore away the outer stabilizer and left the inner stabilizer. Put on a good podcast or a weekend movie, grab a pair of sharp fabric scissors, and the trimming will be done before you know it. ### Share Your Creations We can't wait to see the beautiful stitches your machine can do. If you make your own decorative stitch napkins, share them with us on Facebook and Instagram and tag @fatquartershop so we can see and share your work. Happy sewing!