Hand-made Linen Napkins

A good friend of mine got married in Ireland recently but I was unable to make it due to work commitments. To make up for my lack of presence on the special day, I decided to put that little bit of extra effort into making a gift that would (hopefully) be treasured.

I wanted to make something with a beautiful piece of vintage ivory Irish linen I had in my stash and I thought it would make some great napkins. I selected some beautiful organic cotton ribbons in the colours of the wedding as a decoration on each napkin. I then hand-embroidered the names of the bride and groom and the date of their wedding with some embroidery threads.

The construction of the napkins was quite simple. I sewed the ribbons on with rows of machine stitching using co-ordinating threads. I then used the micro-hemming technique I learnt during the couture finishing techniques workshop at the Fashion and Textile museum in 2017.

Finally, I selected a font using my computer and printed out the exact size of the lettering I wanted on the napkins. Luckily the ivory linen was quite transparent so I could easily trace through the lettering using a Frixon pen to transfer the lettering to the napkins (the pen disappears with heat when you iron it). I then spent a couple of hours enjoying the careful process of hand-embroidering the lettering. A truly satisfying project.

My friend and her husband contacted me today and they said they really love them. Yeah!
Have you made a gift for somebody recently?