Jennifer Napkins

I decided to sew napkins yesterday.  

I figured they needed the largest bit of uninterrupted fabric.  Everything else that I'm itching to make (quilts, bags, journal covers) can be put together with scraps.  I guess napkins could too but they I think the fewer seams they have the better. 

They were already folded up in the napkin basket when I took these pictures.  That's why they're all wrinkly

I made five napkins.  Once I settled on what to make, it went pretty fast.

Top half was a shirt - see the darts?  I unstitched them  after dying.  I think they look pretty cool.  The bottom half was a skirt panel with embroidery.  I french seamed the two together.

I should tell you that we are big cloth napkin users.  We don't even own paper napkins.  I grew up using paper towels but only if needed - like with ribs.  Usually, we just used our sleeves.  

My husband grew up with paper napkins. He used several per meal.  It took us some time to find the middle ground of cloth napkins.  They are very handy and you can take them anywhere.  These are our first linen napkins and we feel pretty fancy.   

Small napkins work well too.  

We really like using cloth napkins now.  We keep them in a basket near the table so we can grab them as needed.  Our napkin basket is a real hodgepodge.  We actually still have some napkins from out wedding (20 years this summer).  There are lots and lots of napkins that I've sewn over the years and none of them really match.  

Since this had been a shirt, it wasn't quite big enough to cut out so I just left out a corner.  Everything I dyed had been thrifted, that's how we ended up with these big blotches when we dyed them.  I don't know what they were dirty with, some kind of oil probably, and the wax didn't take there.  All part of the adventure.

I'm a huge fan of the random and find things that are too consistent looking to be annoying.  I can accept that about myself as part of my aesthetic now, instead of a weird quirk.  It's just who I am.  So, with that in mind, the napkins I sewed yesterday are pretty random, in size, shape and patterns.  

They are Jennifer napkins.

I left the the curve of the hem of the skirt intact.  :)