The napkins themselves were made of linen and measured 36" by 18". The design was embroidered in a 2" square in the lower right hand corner of the napkin. The embroidery was done with DMC cotton embroidery floss using satin stitch and stem stitch for outlines. The napkins are meant to be draped over the left shoulder.

The two Baronies I was assigned were Bergental and Carolingia.

More than a year later I took one of the left-over napkin blanks to make a gift for Master Aleksandr Ruslanovich, who had coordinated the Runnymeade dinner and the napkin making project.

I hemmed the napkin with linen thread and embroidered his arms in silk floss. I hadn’t liked the long floats that resulted when using satin stitch for the backgounds of the Baronial napkins, so this time the main charge was done in satin stitch and the background in stem stitch.

In January 2002, Lady Lakshmi Amman approached me about a different napkin project. She was coordinating table linens for La Feste a La Tour du Lac. She needed 42 napkins hand-hemmed and 6 embroidered. These napkins were 29" x 29" with a Italian hemstitched hem and an Italian cross-stitched (reversable) motif done in black silk thread. The design was taken from Sensuyuent les Patrons de messire Antoine Belin, published in Lyons by Claude Nourry and Pierre de Saincte Louie in 1533. I managed to hem one napkin and embroider 3 motifs. Lakshmi’s account of the project can be found here.

The most recent napkin project is a gift for the first King and Queen of Lochac (Australia). The napkins are based on Lakshmi’s design as above and are embroidered with the Kingdom arms of Lochac. The arms are embroidered with DMC embroidery floss for washability. The napkins are meant to be folded and draped over the shoulder.