Use what you have in your house to create lovely table settings to inspire you for the new year. Here are our ideas.
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Napkins
You will need white cotton napkins stranded embroidery thread in different shades of red water - soluble fabric marking pen embroidery hoop
To make
1 Fold the napkins in quarters. Mark each one with three different - sized circles using a water - soluble fabric marking pen. Place the circles differently on the napkins for variety, if you prefer.
2 Embroider each circle with three strands of thread using a different shade of red and using a different hand embroidery stitch. We used the following stitches: chain stitch, open chain stitch, French knots, double running stitch, cora stitch, fly stitch and herringbone stitch. You can use this project to
discover and add new embroidery stitches to your repertoire! You will find the instructions for these and many more stitches in a stitch dictionary.
Tablecloth
You will need
white or cream cotton fabric
red thread
water - soluble fabric marking pen
metal ruler
To make
1 Cut the fabric to the desired size for the tablecloth, adding 2cm hem allowances to all sides.
2 Draw a diagonal line from one corner to the opposite corner using a water - soluble fabric marking pen. Draw a second diagonal line between the remaining two corners. Use these two lines as the starting point for
marking out the diamond pattern on the rest of the tablecloth. Continue drawing lines parallel to the first two, spaced evenly apart, to create diamond shapes to the desired size. We drew our lines 20cm apart.
3 Thread your sewing machine with two reels of thread so it is used as one. Attach a darning foot to the machine and set the machine up for darning. Depending on the make of your machine, this could mean lowering the feed dog or covering it with the darning plate.
4 Hold the fabric taut and sew the diamond pattern by running the sewing machine as you move the fabric backwards and forwards between the marked lines.
5 Fold a 1cm double hem around the tablecloth and machine stitch in place.
6 Soak the tablecloth in water to remove the pen marks.
Cushion for bench
You will need
cotton fabric suitable for upholstery
matching upholstery thread
piping
zip
high - density foam
To make
1 Measure the seat of your bench and have a piece of foam cut to size. We used 5cm - thick high - density foam.
2 Cut two fabric panels the size of the foam plus 1,5cm seam allowances all round. Cut the four side panels to the measurements of the top and bottom panels and the height of the foam, plus 1,5cm seam allowances.
3 Sew the vertical seams of the side panels, right sides together. Start and stop 1,5cm from the edge.
4 Pin and machine baste the piping to the right side of the side panels seam allowances, overlapping the ends of the piping. Use a zipper foot and sew close to the piping.
5 Overlock one long edge of the bottom panel and a corresponding edge of the side panels. These seam allowances are where the zip will be inserted.
6 Pin the bottom panel to the side panels, right sides together. Nip the seam allowance of the piping at the corners to 2mm from the basting line to allow the pinning of the side panels around the corners of the bottom panel.
7 Sew the side panels to the bottom panel using a zipper foot and sew close to the piping. Leave the section open where the zip will be inserted.
8 Press the seam allowance of the open section to the back, then pin and sew the zip into position.
9 Pin and sew the top panel to the side panels in the same way.
10 Overlock the seam allowances then turn through to the right side and insert the foam.
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