Historically, I've been a huge consumer of paper towels. A loyal Bounty customer (because it really is the quicker picker upper), I would buy them in cruiseliner size bulk packages so I never had to be without a fresh roll when I needed one. I used them for everything--cleaning, drying hands, wiping spills, even as napkins with meals. But despite how easy and available they are, they create a lot of garbage over the course of a year if you think about it, and I'm really trying to think about those things more.
Over the past couple of years I've switched over to microfiber cloths and cloth diapers for cleaning. I also use dishtowels for hand drying and spills now. But, the paper towels are still featured prominently in my kitchen and we still use them as napkins. Until now.
I've had an ongoing project sitting on my dining room table that I finally finished. A big stack of pretty cloth napkins.
Like the Cloth Coasters I made last month, the Mixy-Matchy Napkins are another project out of Bend-the-Rules Sewing
I can't recommend this book enough. There are some really great projects. If you want to sample what's in there before you buy, visit Amy Karol's Bend-the-Rules-Sewing Flickr Group and take a look at the cool things people have done with her ideas and patterns. She's also got an awesome blog, Angry Chicken.
I used up a bunch more of the fat quarters I had around for mine and picked out all fabrics that were floral and cream or yellow based, rather than white based (with a few exceptions).
It couldn't be any easier. You just cut, iron a turned edge, fold it once more while you're hemming and you're done. I didn't even really use her exact dimensions. Mine are a tad bigger and they aren't even all the exact same size. You can be very loose with this project and it just adds to the cuteness, in my opinion. I did twenty. I wanted enough that I wasn't running out of them every 3 days. They're lightweight (but very sturdy) so I don't anticipate this creating any extra laundry.
The finished products have a real thrift store, Shabby Chic look, which I love. They make me want to sip tea and eat little sandwiches with the crusts cut off.
So this stack of cloth napkins lives on our table now (I'm on the make for a nice thrift store basket for them) and we'll be using them instead of endless paper towels.
Just another great way to reduce waste by going reusable instead of disposable.
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