How to Make Embossed Velvet Ribbon Napkin Bands
Difficulty Level: Easy
Color Inspiration: Coral, butter yellow, aquamarine, and white
MATERIALS
[for napkin bands]
• Fabric-friendly scissors
• Ruler
• 3/4" velvet ribbon (nylon blend works best)
• Cricut EasyPress or iron with steamer
• Garment steamer
• Alphabet letter rubber stamp set
• Velcro Adhesive Dots (¾" in size)
• Masking tape
[for styling]
• Butter yellow napkins
• Italian ruscus, coral pink begonias, and greenery
• Drinking glass
• Gold flatware
• Wooden footed tray
• Natural textile plate charger
• Mini glass jug vase (yellow)
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Lay out all of your materials. With your rubber letter stamps, select your initials and tape together with masking tape. Be sure to align your letters flat so everything will "emboss" evenly when you press on them.
2. Heat your EasyPress to 275° and set the timer for 30 seconds. Also pre-heat your steamer so that a steady flow of hot steam is being emitted.
Helpful Tip: If using an iron, you might have some trial and error to get a deep emboss for your letters, but it should be on a medium-to-high heat, especially when using velvet fabric. Order extra ribbon for testing your emboss!
3. To test your emboss, cut a small strip of ribbon a little more than the length of your taped stamps.
4. Hold your velvet ribbon (backside) in front of the steamer to dampen; time may vary depending on your steamer model, but start at 10 seconds. The ribbon should be limp and damp to the touch when it is ready to be embossed. This is an important step in this as the moisture helps create crisp letters!
4. Place your damp test ribbon fuzzy side down so that the back of the ribbon is up. Using your EasyPress or iron, press firmly down on your stamp and ribbon set.
5. Once you're satisfied with the impression and its crispness, cut your "official" napkin bands from your spool of velvet ribbon. (Ours were 13" long.)
6. Repeat the above steps to create your napkin bands.
7. After you're finishing embossing, take a Velcro dot set and carefully press them into place on the ends of the ribbon on opposite sides so that the Velcro is hidden when snapped together.
8. And voilà! You've just personalized your table settings in a super chic and simple way!
Styling Tips for Patterned Linens
When deciding on what your wedding tables are going to look like, consider mixing and mismatching prints and textures. When done well, it'll look even more personalized and unique like your napkin bands!
Create a color palette you love. When working with vibrant colors, pair with neutrals like warm brown wood to help soften the scheme for a wedding table. Consider a bold pattern for your napkin so you have more flexibility in the rest of your table design. The key to using bold patterns is to repeat the color elsewhere on the table; it makes your pattern look more intentional. (For the photos you see above, we took butter yellow napkins and found little yellow glass jugs to hold our succulents. Our begonias also has a yellowy undertone in some of its blooms.)
Using your special patterned napkins as a starting point, determine what kind of plates, flatware, and glassware you'd like to complement it. Getting the advice from an expert like a specialty rentals company for weddings can also show you options that you didn't know existed before!
Most of all, have fun and play around with your choices until it looks good to you.
And can't get enough velvet either? Head over to our roundup of other velvet wedding ideas you can incorporate into the big day!
- Chelsea
TUTORIAL CREDITS
Photography, Tutorial, and Styling: Chelsea LaVere
Obsessed with Velvet Like Us?
Shop Our Curated Velvet Wedding Favorites!
Editor's Note: Specially curated by us, the above product links are partner-connected and purchasing through these links means we get a small commission from those brands that helps support this website. You can find our full affiliate disclosure policy here on Tidewater and Tulle.
