Get your dining area party ready with Amanda Walker’s runner and napkin set

What you need...

• Fabric: printed, plain pink
  Pink pom-pom trim
  Thread: navy embroidery, matching
  Sewing machine

instructions

1. Table Runner - 1. From the printed fabric cut a rectangle, measuring 37cm x 135cm. Measure from each corner 14cm along the outer long edges of the rectangle and make a mark. Find the centre of the two shorter ends and make a mark. Join the marks from the outer edge to the centre points, then cut away the excess fabric to form a point at each end of the runner.
   
   2. Lay the cut printed runner on top of the wrong side of the plain pink fabric. Mark a 4cm border around all the edges of the printed material onto the pink fabric, then cut away the excess. Pin the printed fabric to the pink to prevent it from moving. Carefully fold and press in 1.5cm all the way around the pink border, then press in the remaining 2.5cm of the border that runs along the edge of the printed runner.
   
   3. At each of the corners fold the fabric over onto itself to create mitred folds, then press the folds and pin in place making sure each fold is uniform. From the pom-pom trim, cut off six balls with a bit of the connecting trim still intact. Tuck the connecting part of the trim into each corner and pin in place. Edge stitch the border in place, securing the pom-poms.
   
   4. To make the tassels, carefully pull the paper rings off from around the hank of embroidery thread and cut off one round of thread. Cut the hank in two exactly in the centre, then cut the round of thread in half and use this to tie around the curved ends of the hank.
   
   5. Cut a pom-pom with a bit of the connecting trim on either side. Wrap the trim around the top of the embroidery hank approximately 1cm below the tied top, then hand stitch the two ends together to form a tassel. Tuck the tied ends of each tassel into the folds at each point of the runner and hand stitch in place continuing the stitching along the fold.

2. Napkins - 1. Cut squares of printed fabric, which can be as large or small as you like, then press in 1cm. Press in another 1cm around all four edges. Unfold the second pressed edge and with the right side of the fabric facing up, pinch each corner, then stitch a mitred corner into all four corners.
   
   2. Trim away the excess fabric, then turn the corners back to the wrong side of the fabric. Edge stitch the folded and pressed edges in place. Stitch a pom-pom to each corner.

3. Napkin Rings - 1. Make the tassels of the napkin rings in the same way as the runner, only smaller. Cut one hank of embroidery thread equally into four, taking a couple of rounds of thread off to tie the tassels before the thread is cut. Snip 8cm x 16cm strips of pink fabric, then stitch the long edges together. Turn the tube to the right side and press flat.
   
   2. Wrap the two ends, one over the other, then hand stitch the two together, forming a pleat in the join as you stitch. From the printed fabric, cut strips 4cm x 6cm. Press in 1cm on each side, then tie a tassel around the strip with a knot at the back.
   
   3. Position the strip around the pleated join of the pink ring. Wrap the two ends over one another, turning in the raw end to neaten. Hand stitch the two ends together, then place the finished ring around the napkin.