4th of July Napkin Ring Tutorial

While we continue enjoying all the wonderful tablescapes linked yesterday for Tablescape Thursday, here's a little tutorial for the napkin ring I used in the 4th of July tablescape I shared.

This is a super easy napkin ring to make. It reminds me of beautiful patriotic bunting.

I found this napkin ring craft design online HERE, but I changed it up a bit using a different size/width ribbon and adding stars to the center.

Supplies you'll need to make 6 napkin rings:

♦Grosgrain ribbon: You'll need at least 7 feet, 5 inches to make 6 napkin rings. Buy a little more to be on the safe side. My ribbon was 1.5 inches wide, although the original directions only called for 1/2 inch wide ribbon.
♦Elastic Beading Cord (Available at fabric stores)
♦Buttons (they don't have to match or be the same, I used ones from my button jar)
♦Fabric glue (available at fabric stores and Michaels)
♦Thread (I used embroidery thread since it's thicker/stronger than sewing thread)
♦Needle (I used an embroidery needle)
♦Star Buttons: Optional

I also added a star to the center of my napkin rings. I found these star buttons at Michaels and they worked well since they have a plastic loop underneath for sewing them onto shirts and such.

Cut a 15 inch long piece of ribbon. I experimented around and tried longer pieces, but found 15 inches really was the best length. If you go any longer, the napkin rings are too bunchy and won't lay flat.

Fold your ribbon back and forth, back and forth like you're making a paper fan. You want your little accordion-like folds to be about 1/2 inch wide.
Tip: It's easy for the little fan sections to accidentally start getting wider as you fold, so watch for that and try to keep them pretty close to the same width.

Holding the ribbon tightly in your hands, push your threaded needle through the layers close to one end of the ribbon as shown below. In this case, I wanted the red to be in the center when the napkin ring was finished, so I ran the thread through the red end of the ribbon.

Here's how it looks gathered together.

In the pic below, I spread the ribbon out so you could see where I ran the thread. Tip: Use thread that's the same color as the ribbon section where you'll be inserting the thread. That will help hide the thread.

Pull the threads together and tie them into a knot to form a nice circle. Spread your folds out evenly. Doesn't it remind you of 4th of July bunting?

Snip off the excess thread.

Now it's time to do something about those raw open edges/ends.

Run a small amount of fabric glue along the edge of one of the open ends of ribbon.

Press the open ends together. Fabric glue dries amazingly fast.

Cut a piece of the elastic-beading-cord, about the length you'll need for your napkins. This may vary a little depending on the size napkins you'll be using and how you'll be folding them.

Take a button and thread the elastic through as shown below.

Tie the ends of the elastic in a knot. This is a good time to test the elastic on your napkins to determine if the length you cut your elastic cording will be a good fit for your napkins.

Snip off the excess cording, but not so short it comes untied. Put some fabric glue on the button. (See picture below.) Be sure to put it on the side where the elastic cord was tied so when you glue the button down, the cording knot will be hidden.
Tip: While you are waiting for your fabric glue to dry at different stages, you can use that time to cut the ribbon and cording for your other napkin rings or to tie the elastic cording through your buttons.

Press the button onto the center of your napkin ring. Tip: It's a great idea to put the button on the side where the raw edges of the ends of the ribbon meet and are glued. That way the raw edge will be facing downward and not visible. You can see the raw edges of the ribbon on the right side of the pic below, so I glued the button to this side.

If you'll be using a star button or some other decorative item in the center of your napkin ring as I did, turn your napkin ring over and put a drop of fabric glue in the center. I pulled my ribbon together pretty tightly when I tied the thread, so the center hole was small and the glue rested right on top and filled the hole. (See pic below.)

Then, just poke a star button down into the hole. The star buttons I bought have the little hard, plastic loop underneath them so they can be sewn onto a shirt. That provided plenty of surface for the glue to grab. Plus, the plastic loop fit just right into the center of the napkin ring. I bought the last pack of the star buttons at the Michaels nearest me. Hopefully you can still find them in your local craft store. Check the fabric stores, too. They were called "Twinklers" and the brand was "Dress It Up." The package contained both gold and silver buttons.

For most of my place settings, I put the thread through the red end of my ribbon because my napkins were red and I thought the napkin ring would look best with the red in the center and blue edge of the ribbon napkin ring resting against the red napkins.

Here's how it would have looked if I had threaded the needle through the blue section of the ribbon. The red part of the ribbon isn't as pretty against the red napkins as the blue edge, is it? If you have blue napkins, you may like it this way, below. I liked pairing the silver star buttons with the red centers and the gold star buttons with the blue centers, but either way would look great. :)

Hope you found this tutorial helpful....feel free to share it...would love that! :)

Remember that little sewing project I was working on? I can't wait to show you what I made. :) The porch has gone through a little transformation and I'll be sharing it for this Metamorphosis Monday.

For additional ideas for 4th of July table settings, click on the Holiday category heading at the top of this blog and scroll down to "4th of July" category where you'll find individual thumbnail links for all 4th of July related posts. Or, click HERE and scroll down to view each post in succession.