DIY: Ombre Linen Table Napkins

Words by Tom / Images by Miss Pigeon
April 12, 2016

We’re sharing a super easy way to get a little ombre action onto your table, courtesy of the talented team at Lenzo and Melbourne stylist, Abigail Jane. We love the simplicity of this dip-dyed napkin tutorial and how it can be applied to a whole host of details.
DIY ombre linen napkins

What you’ll need

  • Neutral, 100% cotton fabric for napkins (allow 40x40cm roughly per napkin).
  • Fabric dye in your desired colour. (We’ve used RIT dye in Fuchsia & Armadillo Yellow to create a peachy sunset colour.
  • Bucket
  • Salt
  • Pegs
  • Fabric scissors
  • Rubber gloves to avoid staining
  • Access to water

DIY ombre linen napkins

DIY ombre linen napkins

Step by step

1. Cut your fabric into long strips in multiples of 40cm. (We did strips of fabric 40cm wide x 160cm long). This will create approx 12 napkins at 40cm x 40cm (3 across).

Tip: To ensure you have straight edges, cut and then tear the fabric apart. This will leave a small frayed edge. If you don’t like this look, you can hem your napkins at the end. DIY ombre linen napkins

2. Loosely fold your fabric strips into approx 20cm wide lengths. It’s important you keep these loose, as you want the dye to get into all the layers.

3. Next, prepare your dye as per the instructions on the packet. It’s important you follow these strictly to ensure the colour holds. (We used a combination of very hot water and salt as per our instructions).

Tip: It’s good to check the colour of your dye on a scrap piece of material first, to check you are happy with the colour – especially if you are mixing dyes to create your own colour.

DIY ombre linen napkins DIY ombre linen napkins

4. To create the ombre dip dyeing technique, take one folded strip and hold your fabric at the very ends. You might want to practice this technique on a scrap piece first.

5. Dip the fabric ¾ of the way in (leaving the top section out) and hold in the dye for approx 10-15 seconds only.

6. Then dip only ½ the fabric in the dye and hold here for approx 2-3 mins.

7. Dip the last 1/3 of the fabric in the dye for approx 20mins.Dip the fabric ¾ of the way in (leaving the top section out) and hold in the dye for approx 10-15 seconds only.

Tip: You can peg the fabric to the edge of the bucket at this point and start the same process with a new strip of folded up fabric.

DIY ombre linen napkins

8. Once you have completed all strips of fabric, rinse dye out, as per packet instructions and hang to dry.

9. Fold dry fabric strips into 40cm sections then cut and tear to create individual napkins.

DIY ombre linen napkins DIY ombre linen napkins

Credits

Images Miss Pigeon | Styling Lenzo | Concept Abigail Jane |


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