Crafty: Ombre napkins are luxury for your lap

Like I mentioned in my last column, I can really get behind simple indulgences. Whether it’s flowers, stationery or items for the home, anything that elevates the ordinary to even slightly luxurious is right up my alley. I could make a list a mile long of the little luxuries I love, but it’s outdoor dining season at its finest these days, so I’ve turned my attention to the table. Enter: Cloth napkins—the perfect addition to any summer table. And dip-dying a plain napkin to get an ombre effect (where the color graduates from light to dark) is an easy way to bump it up a notch.

Step 1: Locate all your materials

You’ll need:

• Fabric dye the color of your choice (powder or liquid)
• Cloth napkins (You can really go crazy and sew your own napkins from some cotton fabric if you like. Otherwise, white napkins from any big box store will work perfectly.)
• Gloves (so your hands don’t turn blue—or whatever color you are working with)
• Pants Hangers (the kind with the clips)

Step 2: Mix up your dye

Follow instructions on the package to achieve the best results. I used powder dye and typically, mixing 1 box of powder dye, 1 cup of salt and 4 cups of very hot water works well. Be sure to stir the mixture well, and once the powder has dissolved, you can put the solution into a plastic bucket. Top off with an additional 2 gallons of hot water and a tiny drop of liquid laundry detergent.

Step 3: Stack the napkins

Wet the cloth napkins thoroughly and squeeze out excess water. Then think about how you want the napkins dip-dyed. You can leave the napkins unfolded, which I did because I like the look, but this means just one edge of the napkin was dyed. For a different effect, you can fold your napkins in half lengthwise so two edges of your napkin are dyed leaving a white space in the center. After you’ve decided how you want the napkins to be dyed, flatten, fold (optional) and stack them. Once the napkins are stacked, you may want to clip them all into the pants hanger to make the next step a little easier.

Step 4: Dip-dye

You’ll work in three stages here, in each stage dying a little more of the napkin, so plan accordingly. Think ahead to how you want the napkin to look when its finished, folded and ready for use, making sure that you don’t dye too much of the napkin so that some of the undyed portion of the fabric still shows when its set on your table.

Dip the bottom edge of napkins into dye (about 2-3 inches if you are using a 12-inch napkin). The hanger can drape over the outside of the bucket here. Napkins will sit in the dye for 10-15 minutes at this stage. When time is up, lower the napkins further into the dye (submerge an additional 2 inches of the napkin into the liquid). At this second stage, leave napkins in the dye bath for 10 minutes. In the third stage, dip the napkins just a bit lower (one more inch for a 12-inch napkin) into the dye and wait 5 minutes.

Step 5: Rinse, rinse, rinse

Rinse your napkins in cool water being sure to keep the undyed portion at the top near the faucet so excess dye drains away from the white area. Then rinse your napkins in hot water until the water runs clear. Hang napkins to dry.

Step 6: Rinse some more

Before using, machine wash in cold water on a gentle cycle. Machine dry or hang dry. Wash the napkins separately from other items the first few times or you’ll be very sad.

Step 7: Make a whole bunch and host a super fun backyard bash!

Frankie Schneckloth enjoys a good dinner and cocktail on the patio.