Hi friends,
Our birthday celebration was wonderful, but tiring. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. But today, I want to share my latest project with you.
It looks here like I inherited the lion's share of table linens from my mother, grandmothers and great grandmothers. They've mostly been taking up room in a closet. I just don't use them, as they're either white or ecru. They'll show stains, and they're not very cheerful, IMO.
I had wanted to use them in some way. Some of these are really lovely, about 100 years old, and even monogrammed. Others are vintage from the 1950s. Those are fun, too, especially the ones with a little embroidery on the corners.
I was reluctant to change them in any way, like afraid that I'd spoil them if I altered them in size or color. Well, I had a conversation in my head and decided that my grand and great grandmothers would be more pleased if I did alter them in order to put them to use rather than allow them to continue aging, stacked in a closet.
Part of my daughters' birthday celebration included a day in vintage shops up north. One store in particular had tables set in pretty pastels for Easter. It got me to thinking that I could do something special for our own Easter table this year, and not spend very much money. I could dye one of the linen table cloths and a set of linen napkins from my grandmother a pale shade of pink. I think a pale pink tablecloth would be much cheerier for spring than off-white and would go well with our dishes.
I combed through all of the linens and found a pretty damask cloth.
The napkins don't exactly match, but they do have a damask pattern woven in. They also have a nice hemstitch edge. And there are 12 of them!
Going online I was able to score a 30% off coupon for in-store pick-up at Michael's (craft store) to use on a bottle of fabric dye. My daughter swung by Michael's this afternoon and picked up my order on her way home. My pale pink dye had a total cost of $4.34, including tax and bag fee for the pick-up. I think that's a bargain price for "new" table linens.
I will dye the cloth and napkins later next week when the weather is slightly better, and I can hang them to dry.
One pretty pink tablecloth with matching napkins coming up!
Why do we save items when we can make good use of them. We save for an occasion. I have a set of bone China that I have used 3 times waiting to give to my daughter when I die. What if she doesn't want it? Now have to think about them.😂
ReplyDeleteI think appreciating and using the items we have, instead of storing them away, is a great idea. I do that with some of my things, but I need reminders to do it more. I hope your dye project turns out well. I would probably just add lots of colorful items on top of the tablecloth and call it good. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
ReplyDeleteOne thing I am doing differently about this dye project is I'm using liquid (instead of powdered) dye. I hope this will eliminate dye particles from leaving specks of darker color on the finished product. I'll be sure to include photos once the table cloth is dyed.
Hi Cheryl,
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. I think in part I'm afraid I will spoil or break one of the nice things I have, so I just avoid using them. It's silly to keep these things in storage. If they're items that we really enjoy looking at, we should get them out more often. You've got me thinking of using my mother's china more often now. I hope you can find new occasions to use your own bone china.
Hi Kris,
ReplyDeleteI think we all need those reminders to use the things that we've thought were only for special occasions. I'm going to try using what I've inherited with more regularity than I have in the past. I like your thoughts on how to brighten the table!