It’s summer in the US, and this time of year, picnics, outdoor parties and cookouts are all on the menu.

If you’re the keen outdoor picnicky type, and you love the idea of embellished picnic tablecloths, there are a few tutorials here on Needle ‘n Thread that might strike your fancy!

First, there’s this tutorial for embroidering easy, perfect stars. You can find further variations on embroidered stars in this tutorial.

Both star tutorials were originally concocted for Christmas stitching, but they’ll serve equally as well for creating your summer Fourth of July picnic linens. Embroider them on cloth napkins, tablecloth corners and the like to add a special touch to your summer celebrations!

If stars aren’t your thing, try touching up your classic red-checked, picnic-table gingham using this tutorial on drawn thread borders on gingham towels. You can apply the same concept to your cotton table cloths or cloth napkins.

After working the drawn thread edge, you might want to add some festive chicken scratch embroidery, too. Chicken scratch is embroidery on gingham that works up quickly. It looks great on red and white gingham, and can take your picnic place settings to a whole new level!

Since it’s been a little while since both of those tutorials were posted, I figured I’d let newcomers know they’re available. Hope they come in handy!