Ever had some super cute fabric that you just looved, but couldn’t figure out what in the world to with it? I’ve had this adorable flip flop fabric forever, but just couldn’t find the perfect project for it.
As I sat looking at our boring well-used patio table, it came to me. A tablecloth. We eat outside A LOT during the spring and summer and for some reason I just really hate to wipe down that table. The answer – a tablecloth. We’ve used vinyl tablecloths some in the past, but they too have to be wiped down. Which is what I’m trying to avoid. Then I started using some flat sheets, folded in 1/2. It solved the wiping down issue (throw it in the wash), but wasn’t very cute. But NOW, I could do cute!
So, I grabbed my tape measure & zipped back out to measure the table. (That counted as my workout for the day, because the tape measure was in the craft room on the 2nd floor.) 🙂 I measured the diameter of the table & headed back up to measure my fabric. I had just enough. To mark the fabric, I first folded it in half, then measured the length and found the center. Then I stuck a safety pin through my tape measure and pinned it through the fold at the center. That allowed me to simply move the tape in a semi-circle around the folded fabric and mark the outline of my tablecloth.
Problem. My fabric was a little narrow. So, I had to cut it smaller than I wanted, but I figured I could fix that with a border. Once the fabric was marked & cut, I was ready to use some scrap fabric for the border. All I needed was the circumference so I would know how much fabric I neeeded, right? Umm…..I’ve been out of school for a while….and math was never my strong suit. How do you figure the circumference??!! No worries, all 3 of our kids received letters saying they qualified for advanced math classes this next school year. “I’ll ask them”, said the lazy brilliant mom. “Hey, girls!” “Yeah?” “What’s the formula to figure the circumference of a circle?”…….dead silence…… “Girls?”……”Hello?”……. So, I had to start calling them by name and asking them as individuals. “I don’t know.” “Oh, gee, um, well, I think it’s …” “It could be….Pie R Squared?” Ooookaaayyyy. Glad their daddy is a math wiz & can help with homework this year! So, I went online & got the formula (2PIr). Taking that number, I was able to figure the length of border fabric I needed.
**Just, please, remember to cut your border fabric LONGER than necessary. Especially if you have my mad measuring skills!**
I wanted the border about 2 inches wide, so I cut my scrap into 2 1/2 inch strips for seam allowance. Then, I pinned the devil out of it. Seriously, when you are putting a straight strip of fabric on a circle, use every last pin you can find!
I pinned, and pinned, and pinned, and …… ran out of fabric. Great. THAT is why you cut your strips LONGER than you think you need. So I grabbed another piece of border scrap, and cut another strip. I just stuck it on the sewing machine to join it to the other strip & then continued pinning. Once it was all pinned. Aaaalllll the way around, I realized I had not hemmed it. Which is best done BEFORE attaching the border to the circle. So I UNpinned it. Gggrrrrr… Then I decided I didn’t want to hem it, because that was a pain.
Solution…………..2″ wide navy blue ribbon & fabric glue. I had plenty. Right?
Yeah, the mad measuring skills kicked in & I ended up with a frantic run to Hobby Lobby the next morning for navy ribbon. They had one roll left. One. Thank you, Lord for caring about the small things.
Once all was glued on & REpinned to the circle, I ran it through on a straight stitch. That’s pretty close to the extent of my awesome sewing abilities. And here is how my summery tablecloth looks on our well-used table –
You’d think I would have taken the pic from an angle that did NOT include the seam, but oh well. It’s fun & it saves me from having to wipe the table.
Now to do something with the rest of the deck!
Do & Redo 