What stitch should i use for linen napkins to prevent puckering?

[Logan38]

I finally got my hands on some beautiful linen fabric for a set of napkins, but my usual straight stitch is puckering the edges badly no matter how I adjust the tension. I’m wondering if a different stitch, maybe a narrow zigzag, would give it the clean, flat finish I’m after without switching to a serger.

[JosephMG]

I did try a narrow zigzag on linen for napkins, and it helped the edge a little, but I still got puckering along the fold. On my machine a walking foot and a shorter stitch length felt steadier than fiddling with tension.

[GeorgeJ]

I kept the straight stitch and added a tiny backstitch at the ends, then pressed really well. The puckering eased but the edge never lays perfectly flat.

[Noah95]

Maybe the issue isn’t the stitch at all. The linen weave can grab and slip, and swapping to a sharp linen needle and matching the needle to fabric weight helped a bit for me.

[Jonathan_M]

I once drifted into thinking about finishing and prewashing and ended up washing the fabric first and starching the fold; the napkins held their shape better when sewn, even if the stitching still looked fine.