Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Martha and my wedding

I don't know whether to love her or hate her. Ok, I love her. But seriously, every time I look at her website or magazine, the list of things I want to make or do for the wedding continues to grow. For example, has anyone seen the latest issue of MS Weddings, particularly the article about Jen's (one of the owners of Purl Patchwork) wedding? You know, the awesome wedding for which Jen made different napkins for each table from quilting cotton and then made them into a quilt after the wedding? Yeah, guess who now must make about one hundred and twenty napkins for her wedding? That's right, me.

But seriously, how cool is that idea? I wanted to add a personal touch to our wedding and I really love this idea. I'm thinking about a warm purple/pink/golden yellow (is that just gold?) palette for the decorations:

So far I've found one fabric that fits in with these colors (from my stash!): Kaffe Fassett's Verbena Trees in Brown. This is such beautiful fabric. I don't think they are making it anymore. I think it will be a slight challenge to find nine to ten other coordinating fabrics. Any ideas?


So when I'm pulling my hair out trying to make 120 napkins, I'm going to blame Martha. I really must stop looking at Martha Stewart before she has me wanting to whittle all of the tables and chairs next. It's just so fun. Sigh.
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17 comments:

  1. CaseyJanuary 13, 2009 at 9:47 AM

    I love the idea. It's such a great way to have a keepsake from the wedding. Good luck with sewing up all those napkins!

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  2. Two Dogs and a QuiltJanuary 13, 2009 at 10:43 AM

    I thought the wedding/napkin quilt was a really nice idea. That's a lot of napkins to make though! I did see lots of Kaffe fabrics on fabric.com's blowout sale for about $4.50 a yard just today. You might check it out.

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  3. zanaJanuary 13, 2009 at 11:01 AM

    These colors are beautiful~
    I spent many nights sewing white linen napkins for my sisters wedding...I would have loved sew these pretty colors!
    Zana

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  4. Katie JeanJanuary 13, 2009 at 12:30 PM

    Kona solids are on sale right now at Joann's for $2.99 a yard. Maybe you could do a table runner of the kaffee fabric, and the solids as napkins. Otherwise, there seams to be a lot of other coordinating kaffee prints with that verbena one. which is gorgeous by the way, and now I need to have the one in pink!

    check this website out
    http://www.tennesseequilts.com/cgi-bin/Store/store.cgi?product=Kaffe_Fassette&productid=GP61brown&tracking5=froogle

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  5. UK lass in USJanuary 13, 2009 at 1:42 PM

    My sister-in-law had those colours at her wedding - it looked really stunning.

    I'm in awe of anyone even considering sewing 120 napkins...

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  6. JillianJanuary 13, 2009 at 1:44 PM

    Sewing all of those napkins is taking DIY to a whole other level. I did notice that article in MS weddings and thought it was pretty awesome though!

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  7. WhosiesJanuary 13, 2009 at 2:42 PM

    ok. could you just cut them with the pinking shears rotary cutter? keeps them from shredding too much and not as labor intense? love the idea though....wish i had thought of that.

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  8. patsijeanJanuary 13, 2009 at 2:55 PM

    I love the Kaffe Fassett fabric and your solid fabric choices. Yes, do go that route. When I was making dinner napkins for sale, I had an order for 98 napkins and only one home machine. So I would not go crazy, I scheduled a certain number to do every day.

    I do not know if you are surging the napkin hems or turning them. One suggestion is that you hem an entire width of the fabric, bottom an top, then cut the individual napkins to size and hem the sides. Here is a link to futuregirl's blog showing how she handled hemming tablecloths for her wedding. She did a folded and stitched hem.
    http://www.futuregirl.com/craft_blog/2008/9/tablecloth-hemming.aspx

    You could also use you could also use your sewing machine's turned hem foot.

    Good luck with this project. I know many of us would help you if we could.

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  9. PhiligryJanuary 13, 2009 at 4:00 PM

    that link was stunning! wow.
    i know what you mean about martha. i have been married for 6 years, and i buy the wedding magazine still!
    i wish i had some more ideas for you...good luck and i can not wait to see what you come up with!

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  10. MelodyJanuary 13, 2009 at 4:10 PM

    I love that idea, it's such a lovely sentimental notion. I use Kaffe fabric for all our napkins and one thing I've learned from making scads of napkins is to calculate your yardage well, split the fabric lenghtwise and sew all the long edges first. Then cut and sew the short edges assembly line style. I love using the rolled hem application on my serger for this, but you could also use a rolled hem foot on your sewing machine. There's a tutorial here: http://thesewingdivas.blogspot.com/2006/10/tutorial-rolled-hem-foot.html

    and there are a bunch of coordinating Kaffe prints here:

    http://www.shopquiltology.com/kaffe-fassett.html

    Good Luck

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  11. KristenJanuary 13, 2009 at 4:37 PM

    I'm doing the same thing!!! I saw the post on purlbee.com, and I was completely won over. So far I've made, oh, about 17. And since my Dad has tried to convince me that I need monogrammed cocktail napkins, I've somehow convinced myself that I can make several hundred 5" napkins as well. Yikes.

    So I've scoured etsy for vintage sheets, as they're large and inexpensive. In fact, you're likely to find more of your Kaffe Fassett fabric there too, even though it's discontinued.

    Best of luck, and I totally feel your pain!! :)

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  12. lucky knitterJanuary 13, 2009 at 5:11 PM

    That fabric is beautiful. Very pretty color scheme. I got a giggle at your comment of making the tables and chairs...so funny.

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  13. ChristinaJanuary 14, 2009 at 3:09 PM

    I have to admit that I felt a slight tinge of jealousy when I saw that post on the Purl Bee, it's such a neat idea. I will keep my eyes peeled for coordinating fabrics. Patsijean's idea about hemming them is very clever.

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  14. sweetfunkyvintageJanuary 25, 2009 at 8:13 AM

    So funny - but an incredible idea!
    Love the fabric you have chosen!
    Missy

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  15. metrosupialdesignsJanuary 29, 2009 at 6:49 AM

    I love the idea, and the colors! I have a love/hate with Martha too. It's pretty sad, my 4 year old points her out all the time.

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  16. Geek+NerdFebruary 2, 2009 at 8:53 AM

    Oh, Martha. I love her. I hear you about MS Weddings. I probably 85% of my wedding ideas came from the pages of MS Weddings. Such a good magazine.

    I'm in love with the fabric that you've chosen. Just beautiful. Good luck with finding coordinating colors!

    :)

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  17. SaraMarch 23, 2009 at 8:10 AM

    I really love this idea. So much so, that if we ever get pregnant I am going to use this for idea for our baby shower and make a baby / lap quilt.

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