How to set a beautiful table without breaking the bank is always a wedding challenge. Our “tie the knot” napkin wraps give plain (aka – inexpensive) linens and flatware the perfect dash of glittering style. They are super fast and easy, in part because we show you some clever cutting and stitching tricks to set-up for “assembly line” sewing. You can make 48 wraps from just 1½ yards of fabric! The Artistic integrated system of crystals, software, cutters and presses is a perfect match for projects-in-multiples. Once you make one template, you can use it over and over to create an identical design on each wrap. An Etsy seller, for example, could create several generic designs, such as our little heart outline, then let the bride choose between one of these stock designs or a custom monogram. She could also specify the two fabric colors and the ribbon color to match her wedding theme.  

All of our DIY Wedding Sparkle projects are structured to provide inspiration rather than act as full sewing and software tutorials. Each article describes the basics of how to make the base project, but probably not in quite the same step-by-step detail you’re used to if you’re a regular S4H visitor. 

Once you’re hooked on the idea, and have your very own Artistic System, you’ll be able to visit the Artistic website, where detailed crystal design and application tutorials will be available as free downloads for all our techniques. These free files, including the embroidery file for the KNOT lettering, will be posted to the Artistic website soon after the conclusion of our S4H series.

Preparation notes

We used two cuts of classic silk dupioni. This design looks most elegant if the two colors are similar in tone, a darker tone for the outside bands and a lighter tone for the center embellished band. Our darker tone was a soft aqua and the center a cool mint. 

You can, of course, make as many or as few wraps as needed. For our purposes, we are working with a full yard of the dark silk and a ½ yard of the light silk to yield 48 wraps.

1. Lay the yard of dark silk flat on your work surface. 
2. Across the width (the 45″ side), measure, mark and cut six 7″ strips. Avoid the selvedge, which means you’ll start your measurement just past one selvedge and end approximately 2½” from the opposite selvedge. The strips should run the full 36″ length. 
3. Lay the ½ yard of light silk flat on your work surface. 
4. Measure, mark and cut six 2½” x WOF strips. Then cut these strips down from 45″ to 36″.
5. On each of the six 2½” x 36″ strips, fold under both 36″ raw edges ¼” and press well.

Construction notes

1. Place one folded and pressed light silk strip down the exact center of each 7″ dark silk strip. Pin in place, then edgestitch in place along both long sides.
2. When all six strips are completed in this manner, place the 7″ strips back together, side by side, to create the original 36″ x 42″ box. Tape or use fabric weights to hold the strips in place.
3. Measure and mark along the 36″ side in 4½” increments. You should end up with exactly eight increments. Using a see-through ruler and rotary cutter, slice through all the strips along the drawn lines. You now have 48 napkin wraps.
4. If you’re worried about your alignment precision, rather than cutting all at once, you can cut each strip by itself into eight pieces.
    
5. Fold a 4½” x 7″ napkin wrap in half, wrong sides together, and press a center crease. 
6. Unfold and mark the position of the embroidery/crystal KNOT. It should be centered side to side within the center light silk band, and ½” down from the center crease. 
7. Embroider the lettering and apply the crystal heart. 
8. Repeat to add lettering and crystals to the balance of the flat napkin wraps.
9. Fold an emellished 4½” x 7″ napkin wrap in half, right sides together and pin in place. It is now 2¼” x 7″. 
10. Using a ¼” seam allowance, sew along the 7″ length, leaving a 2″ opening at the center of the seam for turning. 
11. Roll the seam so it is centered along the back of the wrap. Press the seam open and flat. 
12. Using a ¼” seam allowance, stitch across both ends. 
13. Turn the wrap right side out through the opening in the first seam. Press well (remember to use a pressing cloth over the crystals). Hand stitch the opening closed. 
14. On the front of the wrap, the KNOT should be just below center.
15. Repeat to seam the balance of the embellished napkin wraps.
16. Cut the ribbon into 21″ lengths (our ribbon was ⅜”). This length works well around the thickness of a standard cloth napkin and flatware. If you know the table linens or the flatware will be unusally thick or thin, you can adjust this length accordingly.
17. Place the ribbon across the front of the wrap. It should be centered side to side. The bottom edge of the ribbon should be approximately ¼” above the top of the KNOT embellishment. Pin or use spray adhesive to hold the ribbon in place. 
18. Edgestitch the ribbon in place, starting from the left side, stitch along the top of the ribbon, pivot at the far right topstitching seam of the light silk band, stitch down along this seam, pivot again and edgestitch along the bottom of the ribbon back to the left side of the band. Lock your stitch at the beginning and end. 
    
19. Repeat to attach ribbons to the balance of the napkin wraps.
20. Wrap the wrap (yep, I just had to say that!) around the rolled napkin, overlapping the ends at the back. The ribbon loops to the back and then around to the front. It should tie in a simple knot or small bow just above the crystal heart… thus completely the “tie the knot” theme. Insert the flatware.

If you haven’t already, take a look at the first article in our series, The Business of Bling, for a step-by-step overview of the crystal design and application process.

If you are lovin’ the silk dupioni in our DIY Wedding Sparkle series, you might also like our article Sewing with Silk.