How to use fresh flowers to make beautiful naturally-dyed napkins
Betty Shin Binon’s flower pounding tutorial is a fun late-summer project
Did you know that by gently hammering flowers onto fabric, you can transfer their natural pigments and create beautiful, one-of-a-kind designs? We'll show you how to add vibrant colours and patterns to plain fabric napkins using fresh summer florals from your garden or local market. For the most vivid results, opt for flat flowers, such as cosmos and delphiniums, and blooms with juicy petals, like roses and dahlias. Have fun experimenting with different varieties and techniques to create something truly unique.
Materials
- Large cutting board
- 4 small (approx. 10-inch long) plain linen or cotton napkins
- 16 large fuchsia rose petals
- 24 orange dahlia petals
- 12 blooms lavender delphinium
- 24 blooms blue delphinium
- 20 blooms yellow cosmos
- 24 yellow cosmo petals
- Masking tape (optional)
- 4 sheets wax or parchment paper
- Small mallet or hammer
Instructions
Place the cutting board on a stable countertop and lay a napkin flat on top.
Begin to arrange your botanicals, placing them face-down. Distribute 4 rose and 6 dahlia petals evenly across the napkin. Add 3 lavender and 6 blue delphinium blooms. Place 5 cosmo blooms in between the other florals, then fill in the remaining gaps using the cosmo petals.
Apply masking tape to the edges of the larger blossoms and petals to help them stay flat if needed.
Lay a sheet of wax or parchment paper over the flowers.
Holding the paper down firmly with one hand, begin to gently pound the flowers with your mallet or hammer. Be sure to flatten each entire petal and bloom as you make your way across the napkin. (You can lift up the sheet periodically to check if enough pigment has transferred.)
Remove the paper and, working one at a time, gently peel the hammered florals off of the napkins and discard them.
Repeat the entire process with the remaining napkins and botanicals. Hang or lay the napkins flat to dry.
(Note: Colours will wash out over time, creating a beautiful faded appearance.)
Produced in collaboration with the CBC Creator Network.
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