Cutting Out A Linen Napkin
Cutting out a linen napkin is a perfect project to practice cutting fabric without a pattern by pulling threads. In the video below we practice our skills of: translating measurements directly onto fabric, ergonomic cutting technique and pulling threads for a precise cutting line. We will cut out a 18” by 18” (45 cm by 45 cm) linen napkin to practice these skills. I suggest you cut and sew two for this workshop. This will give you lots of great practice and a matched set!
A note about the measurements: I cut out a 18” by 18” napkin because I wanted to minimize waste. For example: if you have fabric that is 36” wide you can get 2 napkins out of that, if you have fabric that is 54” wide you can get 3 napkins out of that. Remembering that 18” is also half a yard so a full yard yields double these numbers. I would encourage you to cut the square in relation to your fabric width. For example: if your fabric is 54” wide but has a fuzzy selvedge that needs to be cut off subtract the amount you cut off and divide the width in thirds to figure out what the width and what the length should be. If you have 60” wide fabric and you end up with 20” by 20” go with that! The goal is to cut these napkins with MINIMAL waste. This means using the fabric to its best advantage.