Christmas Fable by Juna: Bed Linen, Tablecloth and Place Mats

Christmas Fable is Juna's seasonal series of embroidered textiles, and it covers more of the house than most holiday ranges: bed linen for the bedroom, tablecloths and place mats for the dining table. This guide sets out what each piece is made of, which sizes exist, how to work out the right tablecloth length and how to wash everything so the embroidery lasts into next December.

What Christmas Fable is

Juna is a Danish textile house best known for quiet, easily combined patterns such as Bæk&Bølge. Christmas Fable is a deliberate change of register. Juna describes it as a universe of Christmas tales and playful decoration, and the defining detail is the embroidery: traditional festive motifs drawn in an almost caricatured way, so that each one reads like a small illustration from a story rather than a repeat print.

That matters in practice. A printed pattern sits flat in the cloth, while embroidered motifs have a slight relief that catches low winter light from candles or a pendant. The stitching does most of the decorative work, which keeps the overall look calmer than the word Christmas might suggest. The series comes in a short palette (green and sand for the bed linen, red and green for the tablecloths, green for the place mat), so the pieces combine without much planning.

The bed linen: organic cotton in Danish sizes

The bed linen is made of organic cotton with embroidery and comes in green or sand. There are two duvet lengths, both 140 cm wide: the Christmas Fable Bed linen 140x200 cm DK and the Christmas Fable Bed linen 140x220 cm DK. Both sets come with a pillowcase of 60 × 63 cm, which is the square-ish Scandinavian format rather than the long rectangular pillow common in the UK.

The DK in the name refers to Danish sizing. A Danish duvet is typically 140x200 cm or, for taller sleepers and those who like more cover at the feet, 140x220 cm. Measure your duvet before choosing rather than relying on the size name, because a cover that is 20 cm too long leaves a loose, empty end and one that is too short pulls the corners out of shape. If you are unsure which system your duvets follow, our guide to Danish vs Swedish bed sizes explains the difference between DK and SE dimensions.

The set weighs 0.95 kg in the 140x200 cm size and 1.05 kg in the 140x220 cm size, a reasonable guide to the substance of the cotton. Sand is the easier colour to leave on the bed beyond the holidays, with the embroidery reading as a soft pattern; green is the more festive choice and pairs naturally with the green table pieces.

Tablecloths: choosing between 270 and 320 cm

The tablecloths are woven from a blend of recycled cotton (45%), recycled polyester (47%) and viscose (8%), and come in red or green. Both are 150 cm wide, and the choice is about length: the Christmas Fable Tablecloth 150x270 cm or the Christmas Fable Tablecloth 150x320 cm.

The rule for sizing any tablecloth is simple: take the length of your table and add a drop at each end. The drop is the part that hangs over the edge, and it should be the same at both ends and roughly match the drop along the sides. Work it out the other way round with the cloth you are considering:

1. Measure the table top, length and width, in centimetres.
2. Subtract the table length from the cloth length and halve the result. That is your end drop.
3. Subtract the table width from 150 cm and halve it. That is your side drop.
4. Choose the cloth whose end drop comes closest to the side drop, so the cloth hangs evenly all round.

An example: on a table 90 cm wide, the 150 cm width gives a side drop of 30 cm. A table 210 cm long would then suit the 270 cm cloth (30 cm at each end), while a table 260 cm long would suit the 320 cm cloth (also 30 cm at each end). If your table has extension leaves for Christmas, measure it extended, since that is how it will be laid on the night that counts. A shorter drop keeps the cloth clear of knees; a longer one looks more formal but gathers on chair seats.

Red is the traditional choice and carries the embroidery strongly. Green is quieter against white porcelain and dark wood, and works with the green bed linen and place mat if you want the whole series in one colour.

The Christmas tree place mat

For tables that are already beautiful bare, or for everyday meals through December, the Christmas Fable Place mat Christmas tree 49x32 cm green is the lighter option. It carries a Christmas tree motif, measures 49x32 cm and weighs 0.08 kg. The blend is recycled cotton (58%), recycled polyester (40%) and viscose (2%).

At 49 cm across, a mat takes a dinner plate with cutlery either side, so allow at least that much width per place when counting how many will fit along a table. Place mats can also sit on top of a tablecloth: a green mat on a red cloth layers the two colourways and gives each setting a defined edge, which helps on a long table where the cloth alone can look like one undivided expanse.

Washing and care

The care instructions differ between bedroom and table, and it is worth keeping them apart:

• Bed linen: machine wash at 60°C. The organic cotton handles the higher temperature, which suits bedding that is changed and washed regularly.
• Tablecloths and place mats: machine wash at 40°C. The recycled cotton, recycled polyester and viscose blend should not go in the 60°C wash with the bedding.

With any embroidered textile, turning it inside out before washing protects the stitching from rubbing against other items in the drum. Treat wine and gravy marks on the table pieces promptly, before the cloth is folded away for the year, and make sure everything is fully dry before storing so the cloth is ready to lay again next Christmas.

Putting the series together

Christmas Fable works best when you choose one or two pieces per room rather than everything at once. In the bedroom, a single set of bed linen in sand or green is enough to mark the season. At the table, decide first between a full cloth and individual place mats, then size the cloth with the drop calculation above. The shared embroidery style ties the rooms together even when the colours differ.

For everyday linen to use the rest of the year, from percale bed linen to throws and bedspreads, see the full Juna collection.