How to Make Nautical Napkins with Machine Embroidery

Give your table a touch of coastal charm with these easy and fun Nautical Napkins! Whether you’re planning a beach-themed dinner party or crafting a handmade gift for a sea-loving friend, adding a machine embroidery design to napkin blanks is a simple way to elevate everyday linens.

Follow the steps below to create your own set using the playful “Let’s Get Salty” design by Urban Threads combined with Sulky stabilizers and threads.

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🌊 Nautical Napkins Supplies

• Nautical-inspired machine embroidery design
  (Featured: “Let’s Get Salty” by Urban Threads – 3.85″ x 2.66″)

• Napkin blanks (cotton or linen work well)

• Sulky Fabri-Solvy™ Stabilizer (water-soluble, fabric-like)

• Sulky Poly Deco™ Thread for the embroidery

• Sulky 60 wt. Bobbin Thread

• Sulky KK 2000™ Temporary Spray Adhesive

• Organ® size 75/11 Embroidery Needle

• Fabric marker or pins

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⚓ Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Load the Nautical Design

Start by loading the “Let’s Get Salty” embroidery design into your embroidery machine. Make sure it’s properly oriented and set to the correct size (3.85″ x 2.66″).

2. Hoop the Stabilizer

Hoop a piece of Sulky Fabri-Solvy Stabilizer. This unique, water-soluble stabilizer feels like fabric, making it ideal for floating soft items like napkins.

3. Baste the Design Area

Place the hoop on your embroidery machine. Run the “Baste Around Design” function. This will stitch a basting box directly onto the stabilizer, outlining the area where your design will stitch.

🎯 Pro Tip: This step helps with perfect design placement, providing a visible guide for positioning your napkin in the hoop.

4. Mark & Align the Napkin

Determine where you want the design on your napkin. Use a fabric-safe marker or pins to mark the center cross marks or corners of the design area.

Align these markings with the stitched basting box on the stabilizer.

5. Secure the Napkin

Lightly spray the back of the napkin with Sulky KK 2000™ Temporary Spray Adhesive. Then, finger-press it onto the hooped stabilizer, centering the marks inside the basting box.

Smooth out any wrinkles and ensure the napkin lies flat.

6. Embroider the Design

Thread the machine with Sulky Poly Deco™ Thread in a 75/11 embroidery needle. Wind the bobbin with Sulky 60 wt. Bobbin Thread.

Begin stitching the design, watching as your napkin transforms into a sea-worthy masterpiece!

7. Finish the Nautical Napkins

Once the embroidery is complete:

• Trim any jump threads from the right and wrong side of the napkin, using Curved Tip Squeezers.

• Remove the hoop from the machine.

• Take the stabilizer out of the hoop.

• Trim away the excess Fabri-Solvy around the design edges.

Then, either:

• Rinse under warm running water, or

• Run through a rinse-and-spin cycle in your washing machine.

The stabilizer will dissolve completely, leaving only the embroidery behind on the napkin. Then, let the napkin dry thoroughly.

Repeat to make as many napkins as needed for a set to gift or display.

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🌟 Nautical Napkins – Tips

• Personalize it: Add names or coordinates for a custom gift.

• Make a set: Mix and match nautical phrases and icons.

• Gift it: Wrap a stack with twine and a shell charm for a beachy presentation.

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With just a few supplies and your trusty embroidery machine, you’ll sail through this project in no time. These Nautical Napkins are perfect for seaside soirées, backyard lobster boils or thoughtful summer gifts.

Want to add matching towels? Look to our “All the Towels” Embroidery Session for tons of videos, posts, designs and tips for perfect embroidery on a variety of towels!

Now go on—Get Salty! ⚓