Your Sewing Machine's Hidden Stitch Library: Free Napkin Tutorial

Eleanor Vance · 2026-09-10

September is National Sewing Month, and we're celebrating by giving some extra love to the machine that turns our creative ideas into reality. This year, we're exploring the often-overlooked world of decorative stitches and using them to give plain napkins a beautiful, heirloom-worthy finish. And the best part? We're sharing a free tutorial so you can make your own. ### What You'll Need Before you start, gather these supplies: - Woven fabric (we used a Summer Solstice Woven Fat Quarter Bundle from Moda Fabrics) - 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 The Summer Solstice Wovens collection captures the joy of a summer picnic with its woven texture, giving the napkins a delicate, airy feel that pairs perfectly with the sturdy decorative stitches. ### How to Make Decorative Stitch Napkins #### 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 you like—just cut the fabric about 1" larger than your desired finished size to allow for trimming. 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 your fabric. Then, using a pen or pencil and a ruler, mark the desired finished size of your napkin onto the stabilizer. #### Step 2: Dive into Your Decorative Stitches Choose one of your prepared fabric pieces as a tester. Every decorative stitch is different, and by adjusting 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. #### Step 3: Stitch and Cut Your Napkins Now that you have a collection of stitches 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 after tearing away the outer stabilizer and leaving the inner stabilizer. Put on a good podcast or a weekend movie, grab a pair of sharp fabric scissors, and the trimming will go quickly. ### Share Your Creations We can't wait to see the beautiful stitches your machine can create as you make your own decorative stitch napkins. If you make some, share them with us on Facebook and Instagram and tag @fatquartershop so we can see and share your work. Happy Sewing!