Those napkins

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?)