I got the urge to deal with them today. Rather suddenly, in fact, while in the midst of packing and shipping orders. I had just taped the last envelope closed, and was weighing the packages in preparation for postage printing, when I had this overwhelming desire to dye those stained napkins.
I couldn’t shake it, so I gave in, started a couple of dye baths in the basement, and let the fabric soak while I printed the postage and got the packages safely delivered to the mailbox.
It’s nice to have a box of dye supplies in the basement for urges such as this. I used Dharma Trading Company procion dyes in China Red and Royal Blue. I’d have preferred a darker blue, but I went ahead with the royal blue in the interest of instant gratification.
The napkins soaked for their allotted time, I wrung them out, ran them through the washing machine and dryer, and soon enough, these stained napkins:
got this new lease on life:
So. There’s a lot less white in my everyday napkins now, and I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that. I kind of liked the white. On the plus side, the stains are gone, and I won’t be embarrassed to put these out for guests.
The whole collection now:
If my sewing machine hadn’t been put away, I’d have also sewn a few new ones out of those extra fat quarters in the background. I may still.
I wish this little exercise had made me want the striped fabric a little less, but no such luck. The nice ladies at Fat Quarter Shop are sending me a small sample of the Panier de Fleurs woven so I can decide if the weight is something I’d like to see in a napkin. I’m thinking, if I like it, I’ll pass on the expensive fat quarter bundle I was originally drooling over, and just get a few 1/2-yards of the most interesting stripes. I can fill out the rest of the set with thrift shop and eBay finds. I’ve already gotten a head start on that today in fact.
If I do end up doing a new stripey napkin set, I can relegate this over-dyed collection to party duty. They actually coordinate really, really well with my primary-color party plates and cups. That would be the perfect use for them.
(Uh oh. It really sounds like I’m talking myself into making a new set of napkins, doesn’t it?)
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