Embroidery on linens has been around for many years; it is historically known as white embroidery. White thread used on white cloth, such as bed and table linens, toilet articles, and often lingerie, is the classic form of ornamentation. Today, though, there are more than 400 colors of embroidery floss, and you can find linens for your home in an array of colorful designs.

Personalize towels, pillowcases, or napkins with simple stitches that form a variety of motifs. Try our grape-and-leaf design, produce a monogram from fonts on your computer, or mark off a zigzag border and enhance plain napkins with French knots.

Embroidery floss and hoops can be found at most crafts stores and needlework shops. Purchase six-stranded embroidery floss; two to six strands are used at a time, depending on the stitches. Cut lengths of floss to about 26 inches. When using more than one strand, separate floss, and realign the strands to achieve better coverage. An embroidery hoop is optional.

• dinner napkins
• air-erasable pen or a water-soluble pen
• embroidery floss (DMC colors #988, #420, and #208)
• embroidery needle
• small embroidery hoop (optional)

Step 1: Enlarge the grape-and-leaf design in the center of this page to measure approximately 2 inches wide on a photocopy machine. Be sure the image is dark; you may want to go over the lines with a felt-tip marker. Transfer the design to the fabric by placing the fabric on top of the pattern and adding a light source underneath (a light table or a window). Trace the design to the fabric with an air-erasable pen. This ink will disappear, so perform this step at the time of stitching. Water-soluble pens may also be used. Test on a piece of scrap fabric first to ensure that the ink will wash out.

Step 2: Create a French knot by coming up through the fabric at point A, and wrapping the thread once or twice around the needle. Holding the thread firmly, go down to point B, which is close to A. Continue to hold the thread until the needle is through the fabric and the thread is drawn taut. (The number of strands of floss and number of wraps are determined by the desired size of the knot. We used four strands, wrapping the needle once.) Seven or eight clusters of French knots at each circle shape one grape.