penny-studionotes-2

No pretty pictures in this post, but if you dye fabric yourself or are interested in how it's done, here's a behind-the-scenes look at one key element of the process: the sink. I'm lucky to have a large space available in my basement where I can do everything connected with dyeing fabric--my "wet studio." The basement has always had the double laundry sink shown in the photo on the left below. The sink was large enough to accommodate two large buckets (I often rinse in one bucket and soak in another), while also giving me the necessary space to wash out all the various containers and equipment that one uses. To the right of the sink, I have a large table with a waterproof covering.  This is where I mix up my dye solutions; there's also a dish rack for the containers/tools that I've washed out. All good, but you can see one problem in the photo below: the difference in height between the table (which is at a good working height) and the sink, which is low a...

Last week I printed up five more sets of napkins.   I continue to be happy with how the napkins have turned out.  But now that I've made all the decisions on screen designs and colors, I found that the process of just making more of the same was not as engaging to me--a lot of physical labor, without the sense of discovery.  Yes, it's still a bit of a thrill to pull up the screen and see the design on the fabric, but I've done each of these designs enough times that there's no surprise involved. A production line is not anything like as much interesting/fun/satisfying as the design process! I'm thinking that over the course of the summer/fall I'll dye yardage of the 7 different base colors that are my favorites, and do a run of 8 screens on each of the colors, for a total of 56 napkins. That will give me a sizable supply of napkins from which I can pull sets when I want them (usually for a hosting/thank you gift).