After casually browsing through the clearance shelves at Target, I came across a nice set of plain cloth napkins! On Sale! Or are they tea towels? I forget. Anyway, I immediately grabbed a pack, giddy with the joy of finding something awesome on sale.

After I got home, I decided that as much as I liked the white napkins, it would be more fun to do something creative with the napkins. But the question was, what?

I’ve been seeing dip dye napkins all over the place, which served as my inspiration for these dip dye napkins…except, I’m using natural dye!

Did you know you could use fruits, spices, and other natural items as fabric dye?! Here, I’m using blueberries and pomegranate to create a purple dye. It’s surprisingly easy to do. And it’s nice to know that I’m using a natural dye in the kitchen versus a chemical dye.

I did a Shibori pattern, which I learned how to do from here.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Supplies:

• White tea towels, napkins, or fabric of your choice. It’s best to stick with 100% cotton.
• Clothespins
• 1 – 2 cups blueberries (I’m using frozen)
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds (I’m using fresh)
• Large container of boiling water (Container should be large enough to hold the napkins)
• Large container of cold water

Directions: 

1. Fold the tea towels up in an accordion fashion. I did two tea towels with a horizontal accordion and two tea towels with a diagonal accordion. Secure the accordion folds with clothespins. Try to keep the folds sharp so the dye job looks cleaner.
2. Add the fruit to the pot of boiling water. Let it simmer for a while until the water looks very pigmented.
3. Optional: Strain the fruit/pulp out of the boiling water
4. Gently dip the napkins into the boiling water and let it sit for a while. How long the napkins sit is up to you, but the longer, the more pigmented.
5. Immediately move the napkins to the container with cold water to stop the dye process.
6. Repeat steps 4-5 if you want your napkins to be more pigmented
7. Let the napkins air-dry. The dye might soften a little at the edges. During the drying process.
8. That’s it! Iron the napkins if you’d like and use anywhere in the kitchen!

That’s it! You can also try other natural items for other pigments, like turmeric for mustard yellow, or carrots for orange.