Sewing: Calico Napkins and Pom-Pom Napkin Rings (Tutorial)

Though I haven't yet shared all the details of Audrey's birthday party, I am on to Tess's! It's just how it's working out this year. I will catch up on Audrey's (but I've had some file mishaps slowing me down, as in I lost the file...) and then it's going to be party-party-party for the next few months, and that can't be all bad. It's hard to find something more fun than planning and throwing a birthday party!

So here's a little peek at the progress for Tess's first birthday party. I'm using a collection of vintage-looking fabrics for napkins, which I made by cutting 18" squares and sewing with a tight mitered corner hem.  It was so much fun to pick these fabrics, all of which coordinate with the gorgeous Liberty of London "Tana Lawn Nancy Ann" print shown in the first and last photos in this post (such a great story! Audrey received a Papo d'Anjo dress made of this fabric when she was a baby and I just found the same print here to order!). The other fabrics are Michael Miller "Honey Bee Honey Swirl Honey," Feedsack VI "Tulips Blue," and Antique Treasures "Tulips Red."

I decided I wanted pom-pom napkin rings. So youthful, so little girl. So I made some and will share how. Super easy project.

Click to read the quick tutorial. More party things on the way!

Your supplies include a bunch of pom-poms (I found this bag of 100 1/2" white pom-poms at Joann), stretchy cord (which I also found at Joann in the jewelry making section), and a sewing needle. Buy the smallest gauge cord you can and find a sewing needle with a larger eye so you can thread it. It's a bit of a balance between a needle large enough for threading the cord and small enough for going easily through the pom-poms. I used 12 pom-poms and about 8" of stretchy cord per napkin ring. If you are using heavier weight "restaurant" napkins you may want to use a few more pom-poms on your ring depending on the look you want. The stretchy cord means these will fit all sorts but the pom-poms may have more or less space between them.

The most difficult thing about this quick project is threading the cord through the needle. So you'll want to only do it once. If you are making a bunch of napkin rings, thread all the pom-poms first, before cutting the cord and then you can avoid re-threading. There's no hole in the middle of the pom-poms but you can just poke the needle through and push them dow. I found keeping a shorter tail on my stretchy cord made this easier--less cord to pull against.

After you've threaded your pom-poms, separate a string of twelve and give yourself about 8" of stretchy cord to work with. You'll want enough length to easily tie knots.

I played around with the spacing of the pom-poms before tying a knot in the ends. Trying wrapping them around your napkin to see how they look. 

When you knot, use something that won't slip out. I found this a bit tricky with the stretchy cord. The package actually recommended a couple different good knots, such as the sailor's knot. I tied with the right tail over the top first and then the left tail over the top and repeated again. It seems to be holding.

Stretch and slip over your napkins! Pom-pom napkin rings. Pretty cute!