Wednesday Sewing - Easy Tablecloths

I guess I'm a tablecloth kind of person!  There's just something I love about setting the table with a nice cloth under everything.  Maybe it reminds me of fun times camping - we used to do a lot when our boys were growing up and I didn't like the dirty picnic tables, so we camped with tablecloths.  I know one of the big reasons I like to cover up our patio table is so I don't see it needs to be repainted!  And that's a thankless job - it seems like we respray it and not too long after it looks bad again.  Easy way to fix that - a tablecloth!

My problem with making tablecloths was always that I didn't want a seam to go down the middle and it's hard to find fabric wide enough to avoid that.  I solved this problem by figuring out I could cut the top to fit the table and then add pieces on each side to make the parts that hang down.  It pretty much makes the tablecloth specific to one table, but then I don't really have many tables to cover. 

Materials:
*fabric that is at least as wide as your table.  You'll need twice the table length.  My table is 5 feet, so I needed 10 feet.
*chalk

These are the pieces you'll be cutting:

I found it's easiest for me to get piece A by laying the fabric on the table and rubbing a piece of chalk around the outside edge of the table.  I cut 1/4 inch beyond this chalk line to give me room for a seam.

1.  Cut out piece A and the B pieces (don't cut out the C pieces yet).  Make piece B the length of your table.  The width depends on how far you want it to hang down plus 1 inch for a seam and hemming.  I wanted mine to hang down about 6 inches, so I made it 7 inches wide.

2.  Sew the B pieces to A - I just use a 1/4 inch seam.  Zigzag the seams.

3.  Measure the width of the tablecloth at this point to see how long to make your C pieces.  The C pieces are the length of your A+B pieces and the same width you made your B piece.  Cut out your C pieces and sew them on in the same way you sewed on the B pieces.

4.  If you want to round your corners, fold the tablecloth in half and then in half again.  Lay a plate on the corner that has all the free edges (the edges that will be the four corners of the tablecloth) and draw a rounded edge.  Cut.

5.  To hem the tablecloth, iron under 1/4 inch all the way around and turn this edge under as you sew the hem in.

I had enough fabric leftover for a couple of quilted place mats for my dining room table, but no fabric that would make a good backing, so I'll have to show you those next week.

Happy Creating!  Deborah