Keep it clean

I'm a little bit in love with this fabric. Maybe a lot in love. It's from the Old Lady Collection, 100% vintage.

I'd been wanting to use it for a while,  so I was kind of excited when Amber chose it for the main print on her birthday napkins.

It's not  hard to make cloth napkins:  1. cut out squares, 2. sew.  (And there are lots of good tutorials out there.)  But I experimented a lot with different combinations of interfacing and lining fabric to get the right weight and feel.  In the end, they're all a little different, but still perfectly suited for dabbing at a spill or wiping crumbs from your lips.  (I say "your" lips because not "my" lips because cloth napkins are pretty useless around here.  Our messes require the power washer/ beach towel approach.  And if I'm putting something in my lap to catch spills, a tarp is really more appropriate.   Why protect my lap but leave the surrounding area exposed?)  But anyway, I'm sure these will do just fine when Amber invites the Queen for a picnic brunch.  As long as she doesn't invite me too.

It's all stash fabric, except for the blue print.  That I purchased from Jo Ann just for this project.  I hardly ever do that -- wander around the store with fabric swatches looking for something specific.  Usually, I scour the remnants and clearance fabrics, and if I find something cheap and pretty I take it home.  Then when I find a project I want to tackle I shop my own shelves.  (And by "shelves" I mean "shelves and bins and closets," cause we're a little past neat piles at this point.  It's time to recommence stash reduction.  Who's in?)