Shibori Napkins, again

For this past Fourth of July weekend we had absolutely perfect weather....temps in the high 70's or low 80's with plenty of sun and no humidity. So what did I do? I  spent most of the time indoors dyeing more vintage napkins and loving every minute.

This first set of ten linen napkins were given to me by my friend, Sheila. They were so stiffly starched that they could stand up by themselves. Of course I washed out all that starch. I sewed each napkin into a tube and scrunched them down onto a PVC pipe. There is a lovely embroidery, open work motif in each corner. These are luncheon size.

I found the next set on a bargain table at Home Goods. They were sold individually and I was able to pick up eight with a silver "S" embroidered. I knew the silver thread would not take the dye. They were very cheap inexpensive, made in India and a rather coarse cotton. I used different folding and clamping methods on each one. They are dinner size.

All of the rest were given to me by my friend, Carole, who brought them to me at a FANE meeting in a big plastic garbage bag. When I got them home I sorted them out on the dining room table to put them into sets. Thank you, Carole!

This set of five were accordion pleated and tied tightly at intervals with string.

This set was sewn into tubes and scrunched onto PVC pipes.

These luncheon sized ones were folded and clamped with different shapes. I don't know why these look so purple. They are the same blue as the rest. I used ProChem Navy 412, fiber reactive dye.

This last set and the one before were done in day old dye. I had made three big kitty litter pails of dye. After the first day of dyeing I couldn't bear to throw it all out so I added some more soda ash and salt and added my fabric. They came out a lighter blue but I still like them. This set of very large dinner napkins were rolled onto PVC pipes, then wrapped with string and scrunched them down. You get finer lines this way. They are also incredibly soft. When I showed them to my fiber group today, they said they could even be used as scarves. I have four more of these, but I was pooped by that time and perhaps I'll do them another day.

I am DONE with napkins for now. With what I dyed the last time and this time I have over 80 blue shibori napkins (I also have those pretty pink ones). I was planning on having a Fourth of July party and wanted to use them then, but my floor refinishing got in the way and I did not have the party. Maybe next year or maybe at the end of the summer. I will surely give some of them away. I know my sister is eyeing them, since she also loves blue.

Oh, yes, I did get to go to a lovey small dinner party at my friend, Claire's on Tuesday. We ate outside on her pretty deck, enjoying the perfect weather, Margaritas and delicious food.

I'm linking up with Off the Wall Friday. Go see what some very talented people are doing.