Touch Of Elegance The Dining Room Table Is A Canvas Of Unlimited Possibilities When You Create A Personalized Setting

There’s an art to setting a beautiful table. Fortunately, it’s not a difficult one to master.

It’s all right to mix different colors, patterns and fabrics, but it’s important to maintain a unified look that’s appropriate for the occasion.

Setting a special table begins with the tablecloth and napkins, and if you make or customize them yourself, it’s easy to expand your collection so you have elegant, festive and casual table linens to choose from.

Cotton, linen or a cotton-linen blend are always good fabric choices. But you can experiment with others, such as sheer organza or velvet for tablecloths, or dish toweling for napkins. Before you cut into the fabric, prewash it (or dry clean if necessary) and press it flat.

Here are several techniques for creating custom table linens:

Using permanent fabric paints (available at art-supply and craft stores), you can transform plain cotton or linen napkins, place mats and tablecloths into special, personalized accessories for the table.

Wash the linens first to remove the sizing, and iron them. Make sure to follow the paint’s instructions to get best results.

Be creative when choosing designs. A flower border, names or initials, butterflies or birds, fruits or vegetables, seashells or holly (for Christmas) are just a few ideas.

You can paint freehand onto the cloth or use stencils - store-bought or handmade.

To make striped napkins, block off alternating strips with masking tape (use a ruler to make sure they’re evenly spaced and straight) and paint over the exposed cloth.

You can never have too many cloth napkins. Use terry cloth for summer barbecues, a bright print for breakfasts and gingham for picnics. Generously sized napkins - at least 24 inches square - add an extravagant touch to even the most casual meal.

One of the easiest ways to make beautiful napkins is to give squares of fabric a border of seam binding.

There’s no tricky cutting or sewing at the corners. Just pin seam binding around the edge of a square of fabric, folding it at the corners so it lies flat. Sew into place.

When you’ve gone almost all the way around, turn the end of the seam binding under so it won’t fray, and finish sewing.

Dress up good-quality paper napkins with an embosser. It takes only a moment to make an imprint of your initials or a simple symbol in the corner of each napkin, and they’ll be impressive enough for company.

This technique is particularly useful when you need a large number of napkins, such as for a cocktail party or buffet.

Embossers are available at good stationery stores and from my mailorder company Martha By Mail (call (800) 950-7130 for details).

One of my favorite ways to decorate a table is to use a tablecloth with fresh ivy leaves or beautiful autumn leaves around the edges.

Start with a plain, inexpensive white cloth. Cut equal-size ivy leaves with their stems from vines, or collect colorful newly fallen autumn leaves (they should still be somewhat supple).

Hot-glue the leaves to the border of the cloth at alternating angles, tucking each stem beneath the leaf before it. The leaves should stay fresh for a couple of days. When you remove them, the glue should peel off easily from most fabrics. (You may want to do a test spot on an inconspicuous piece of the cloth before beginning.)

Making a bordered tablecloth - a square cloth with a wide band of fabric around the edge - is another easy sewing project. And with one technique, you can create endless variations.

Use cotton or linen for the center square, and add a velvet, satin, lace or felt border. Or use polka dots in the center and stripes on the border. Or try a solid-color center with a different complementary color for each border strip.

Begin by deciding the finished size you want the tablecloth to be. Then decide the width of the finished border; 10 to 12 inches is a good general measure. To determine the size of the center square, subtract twice the width of border plus 1 inch (for seam allowance) from dimensions of finished cloth.

You will need 4 border strips. For each, width should equal predetermined measurement (10 to 12 inches) plus 2 inches for hem and seam allowances; the length should equal those of center square, plus twice the width of finished border, plus 3 inches for hem and seam allowances.

Sew the strips to the center square with a 1/2-inch seam, stopping 1/2 inch from ends. Pin fabric at corners where borders meet, and sew the diagonal corner seams; trim excess fabric. Hem the cloth (turn i1/2-nch, then 1 inch), and press the cloth flat.

Make as many tablecloths and napkins as you need for upcoming occasions and seasons - but don’t stop there. They also make excellent gifts.

MEMO: Questions should be addressed to Martha Stewart, care of The New York Times Syndication Sales Corp., 122 E. 42nd St., New York, N.Y. 10168. Questions may also be sent to Stewart by electronic mail. Her address is: mstewart(at)msl.timeinc.com.

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