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These DIY napkins made of drop cloth have a beautiful texture and color and can suit almost any decor. The look can be anything from modern and rustic to farmhouse and cozy. Making cloth napkins is easy to do and is a terrific step to replacing the need for paper towels in your home kitchen.

If you are looking for inspiration about how to stop using paper towels read my article “How I Dropped Paper Towels For Good”

Supplies for Drop Cloth Napkins

Drop cloth is easy to find at your hardware or big box home improvement stores. In this tutorial, I recommend a 4×5 drop cloth. This is because drop cloths are often joined with a seam in the larger format cloths. If you look on the label it will usually tell you if there is a join but sometimes I’ve found products aren’t always consistent so the safest bet is to go with the smaller sizes that have no seams like the 4×5.

Drop cloth can be bleached for a whiter look and can even be made softer. It’s only a few dollars per yard when you break it down. The drop cloth texture lends itself well to mending; should there be snags down the road, there is a possibility of future customization (or embroidery?) down the road.

How I Dropped Paper Towels For Good

Prewashing Drop Cloth

Wash your drop cloth before you sew. Drop cloth in general isn’t always the size it say it is on the package. I’ve made the cutting guide to accommodate likely shrinkage. I recommend washing in the way that you do laundry. They will shrink but it’s unrealistic you will tumble dry your napkins. There is extra fabric in the cutting guide to accommodate.

Cutting Guide For Cloth Napkins

There are lots of ways you can cut but I thought I’d give you an easy guide for making the standard “paper towel” size and the small napkin from my napkin size guide. The size guide includes standard sizes for napkins. Don’t forget to cut your edges off (and save for another project… can you see my wheels turning?)

Sewing Fabric Napkins

First, sew the “fold line” of your hem on all four sides of your cut fabric. In my example below, I’ve made it simple and moved my needle over to the left as far as far as possible and sewn with a straight stitch.

If you haven’t tried this method when hemming, it’s a game changer. These drop cloth fabrics fray easily. This stitch will make it sturdier while handling and sewing the fabric.

Fold the fabric at the sewn line.

Then fold again and clip (or pin.) I find it helpful to clip the first fold before I make the second fold. You will notice that when sewing with drop cloth, the stitch becomes invisible in the texture.

Place the footer of your sewing machine along the inner edge and sew. It should look like the image below when finished

Continue on all four sides. When approaching the corner fold, fold it over just as you have before, taking care the fraying ends are tucked in. It may be helpful to start sewing a few inches down, then backstitch into the bulkier fold.

If you’d like to run another line on the edge to have a more classic hem go for it. As for me, I’ll stick to one this time.

Finishing Cloth Napkins

Put your finished napkins and fabric “paper” towels in an easy-to-see and reach place, so reaching for these feels as natural as a paper towel. Enjoy your dreamy set of towels and napkins!