Eat, Drink and Make Napkins

Happy Thanksgiving American friends!

Probably a bit late in the game to be starting this project for today's dinner but the napkins I'm about to show you would make a wonderful Christmas gift for someone.

  
In September I went to visit some very close friends of mine in Switzerland.  I was very excited to see what  their life was like there.  We toured Zurich, went to the spa baths, ate Luxemburgerlis, hiked in the hills, got some crazy virus...but let's not focus on that!

Going...

going...

gone...well nearly!

This fantastic couple had been married 2 years in August (I was a bridesmaid in their wedding and she in mine) so I wanted to bring an anniversary gift slash housewarming gift.  Cotton is the traditional gift for the second year of marriage and I thought handmade cloth napkins would really hit the mark.  I googled for ideas and came across this post from Heart of Light.  Perfect!  I really wanted to put my own spin on them and try some different words - I had wanted to try "eat" "drink" "be merry" (or "be married" because it was an anniversary gift?) "eat" in different languages would be fun too, but given as this was my first attempt at embroidery and napkin making I went with "eat" and repurposed a vintage (fancy word for second hand) table cloth just as Rachel did in her post.

I looked at a few videos on Youtube on how to make cloth napkins and a few embroidery ones too.  I went with 18 inch napkins so I cut 4 squares at 19 inches for a 1 inch seam allowance.  I ironed, pinned and sewed along the edges.  After 2 sewing courses and 2 years of owning a sewing machine, I have made 1 unhemmed skirt, cut the pattern for a jacket, hemmed our curtains, made 1 table cloth and this summer made dining room curtains with the help of a dear friend - who really knew her stuff!  I really need to up my game in the sewing department.

For the embroidery, I bought a small embroidery hoop for under a £1.00 and lightly wrote the word "eat" in pencil.  I then used a back stitch and followed the letters.  I was really pleased with them.  And so were my friends.  They actually already used cloth napkins so these were right up their alley.

The best bit was that they were easy and only took an afternoon to make (and that was while watching TV - imagine the things I could accomplish if I could just. turn. it. off.)  I'm really excited to get my sewing on again.  Handmade Christmas presents could very well be on the horizon!  And maybe some napkins for myself :)