need help sewing

Yes, you will need to miter the corners. Once you get the knack of it, you'll never look back. Page 6 of this PDF illustrates the technique:

Phae

Phae, Thanks for posting that site. I love using cloth napkins and find the information on that site is really helpful because it gives thread suggestions as well as directions. I'm glad to see you back, you haven't posted for awhile. Juno

i figured the only way would be to miter the corners--thanks for the tips i really appreciate it

You are welcome and thanks, Juno. :) I've been kind of treading water lately, not sewing much and trying to get on top of some really annoying health problems (thyroid, celiac, malabsorption, etc). But my fingertips finally stopped splitting and bleeding (yay!) so it looks like I'll be able to sew a bit more in days to come. Ever so kind of you to notice my "return".

I do love using cloth napkins and I've used all kinds of hems on them including overlocked. But my favorite is an inch wide hem with mitered corners. If I can't get an 18" width from my fabric, I often sew on a border, usually a print.

Phae

You are very welcome. I hope your project goes well.

Phae

I like mitered corners the best, too. I think they make the best looking setting. Sorry you've been having so many problems. MY youngest DD has suggested that I try Method Hand soap. I get it and the dish washing soap in Target and have very good results with it. NAYY My hands crack open at the drop of a hat and I don't have all the physical problems you do. I do have a thyroid problem thought and that can cause a lot of dry cracking skin. She also uses a hand cream that she gets in CVS. I check with her as to the name. Her hands and her oldest DS both have a lot of trouble with cracking and bleeding. Juno

I have a lot of problems with that in the winter too. Mostly my hands get really chapped. I think it has a lot to do with the fact too that I wash my hands so much through the day. Especially when I've been substitute teaching. The schools are all germ factories!!! Icky!!

What works best for me is a Mary Kay product. It's a kit called Satin Hands. It's a heavy duty emollient (sp??) a scrub, a gel soap and their hand lotion. It sloughs off the dead skin and then the moisturizer can work better. It's around $30 for the whole kit, but it lasts for a very long time. NAYY. But I LOVE the stuff. Where I have the worst cracking is on my knuckles. This is the only stuff that's ever made a difference with that.

Sharon

My everyday napkins are plain white birdseye diaper fabric from the "big box" quilting dept. I bought three yards, which gave me a dozen "fat quarters". I hemmed round them, put them in the drawer, and we always have clean napkins, no matter how messy the food might be. I find that, if I am not TOO fussy, I can pull them out of the dryer, smooth and fold them, and they don't need ironing.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

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Napkins, like dish towels, work better if you don't iron them.

When I was first married, I ironed my linen towels anyway -- they looked so pretty while I was ironing!

Joy Beeson

Exactly. And when we are "just family" and they are going to be rolled up in a ring between meals, they won't stay ironed anyway. Oh, I still have the posh, perfectly pressed, double damask dinner napkins in the sideboard drawer for when we have company, but the older I get, the less often I find it necessary to use them. Nowadays, most of my friends also seem to count as "family". Still, it is nice to have them tucked away in the bottom drawer of the sideboard, ready for if I want to put on the dog a little.

Merciful Heavens! I can think of prettier things to look at than ironing - like, maybe, the pages of a brand new novel, fresh from the bookstore.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

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Juno

Several years ago, DD gave me a set of place mats & napkins, and I was so pleased the napkins actually were hemmed, not serged till I carefully ripped on corner to check how they were done. I wrote down everything I did to replicate it. That would not have been necessary if I'd had directions like these first. So I also thank you for the post, Phae. Emily, who is still tired from the whirlwind trip to FL for DGD's graduation.

Great idea.

I keep a large bucket in my laundry tub with a solution of OxyBrite (there are so many brands of this environmentally safe additive) and that's where the napkins go after each use. When it's full and I have laundry to do, I dump & squish the water out of the pail and toss them all in my washer. Occasionally, I have to re-soak something badly stained. I seem to get about 95% of the stains out that way. I rarely have to bleach anything anymore and my DH is ever so sloppy.

I only wish I had discovered the merits of the Oxy stuff sooner. It would have saved a lot of chlorine bleach. I often add Oxy to the washer when I use the presoak cycle too. I never put them in the dryer since that can set stains that I sometimes miss. My eyes are just not what they used to be.

Phae

I like Method products too. We've been trying to be a little greener and, surprise (not!), I keep finding old-fashioned, less toxic household products often work as well or even better than the more current brands.

My skin fissures are caused by a number of factors including nutritional deficiencies related to celiac and the thyroid. For instance, I have to take a minimum of 4000 IU of vitamin D each day just to keep my blood level in the barely acceptable range. That's 10x the RDA. And when my levels go too low, bad things happen. But.... things are improving and I have a large supply of nitrile gloves. :) So many people have serious illnesses for which they must take hardcore meds with terrible side effects. I take vitamins, pig thyroid and can't eat wheat. Big deal. So I should not complain.

Oh gosh, I've tried many hand creams. My standby is Alba unscented---

32 oz bottle... lasts forever... no parabens. But recently I got hold of "Almost Butter" by Kiss My Face. Richest, most luxurious hand cream I've ever used.... just awesome and a little goes a long way. It does have some botanical fragrance, however, makes you hungry. ;)

OB-SEW: Handling a lot of fabric (especially unwashed) really aggravates my hands so I wear cloth gloves for those occasions.

Phae

You're so welcome, Emily. Rest up :)

Phae

I'm in favor of using anything that has less chemicals. I'm an asthmatic and don't need the harsh stuff around. I'm also a big fan of vinegar for cleaning. It's good on mold and bacteria. Since I have to use a nebulizer 3-4 times a day I soak it in vinegar and water between uses. Keeps it clean and safe. I like your attitude about you medical problems.I know people who are deathly ill with a hangnail. I'm of the thought that if you take care of the problems when necessary, you can live a better life than complaining about them. Many complainers just keep complaining and do nothing. My motto is if it's bad enough to tell me about it got to a doctor and tell him. Drives my family nuts. Juno

Great Idea Phae. I use an oxy powder,too. I think I use Sun Up. They are all the same . I've read the ingredients. It's also very reasonable in cost. I'd just have to convince DH that it's OK to leave the bucket sitting there. He has a mad compulsion to wash everything in sight. We put the oxy in with every load of laundry. It makes a big difference. I have a great dislike of chlorine bleach. I've ruined more things with it than I've gotten clean. I use it occasionally to clean the commode. Juno

That reminds me; I need to spray some more vinegar on those patio weeds. What an amazing, all-around, useful substance! Given your situation, here's a couple of websites that might interest you... though you're probably already familiar with them:

I'm anxious to try some of that bamboo fabric.

Phae