Tablecloths – How to “Dress Up” Your Table

Just like a great dress on a woman stands out, so a great tablecloth on a table “speaks” as well.  Unless you have a really lovely table with beautiful legs or a handsome pedestal, a tablecloth is a very ‘good thing’ as Martha would say.  Most of us don’t have our grandmothers beautiful antique mahogany table and chairs in our dining room or something comparable  as an accent table in our living rooms or entryways.  But a table is a very practical piece of furniture to have in almost any room.  So if yours isn’t particularly beautiful on it’s own, you may want to think about “dressing it up” with a table cloth.
 Your Two Chums have only one rule about tablecloths….they need to be floor length.  If the reason you are using one is because your table isn’t especially beautiful in the first place with a great top and nice legs, then you need to have a cloth that goes to the floor both for the practicality of covering the unattractive features of the table and for…well frankly, for the drama of it all!

So if your table is in need of a cloth, you have one of two choices to cover it: 1. Buy a tablecloth or 2.Make a tablecloth.   You may want to buy a tablecloth if you don’t sew or don’t have time to make one and if that is the case we have a great resource for you to consider.  Go to eFavorMart.com and check out the choices in tablecloths.  I bought one from them this past week just to see first hand the quality and fabric and I was really pleased.  I bought a plain white 100% cotton table cloth and some napkins and was amazed at the quality considering the price. It is not uncommon to find polyester tablecloths at very affordable prices both on line and in discount stores like Home Goods and Marshalls but finding an all cotton tablecloth that is floor length and is reasonably priced is not easy to come by.  eFavorMArt has a really good selection of all kinds of table linens including the polyester ones and some other fun decorative choices as well.

The other option is to make your tablecloth.  If you don’t sew you might think about teaming up with a friend who does and watching her children for the day while she sews a tablecloth for herself and one for you.  Or vice versa if you are the one who sews.  If  young children needing to be tended to aren’t an issue, maybe you make dinner for the friend who does the sewing that day….the buddy system…or should I say “chum system” can allow you to accomplish much more than you might all on your own and will certainly make things more fun:)

Another benefit to making your tablecloth is that you can use any number of beautiful and fun fabric and really the sky’s the limit as to what you can have if you choose this option.  You will end up with a very custom made tablecloth for certain.  Maybe this is the project that will launch your sewing hobby.  You can check out the basic things you need to get started sewing, if you haven’t already, at an earlier post we did called Sewing Essentials.  

Choose a fabric that can be easily washed if the tablecloth is going to get a lot of use and need to be cleaned often.  If not, then you are virtually unlimited in your choices.  If you live in the Los Angeles area as we do, we would suggest you make a trip to downtown Los Angeles in the area of Maple Avenue and 9th Street.  There are dozens of fabric vendors and every kind of fabric you could ever imagine.  Two places we particularly like to shop are Michael Levine at 920 Maple Avenue and L.A. 99 Cent Fabric Store at 405 East 9th Street.  I have bought literally hundreds of yards of fabric from both of these places and made beautiful tablecloths (among other things) for pennies of what it would have cost elsewhere.  It isn’t cheap fabric that they carry, just inexpensive prices on quality fabric, that are sometimes closeouts or last bolts of beautiful cottons and silks.

The method for making a tablecloth is relatively easy if you follow some simple steps whether the tablecloth is for your dining room or another room, and whether it is rectangular or round.  Here are the steps and guidelines to follow.  We have included drawings to help clarify because I am a visual learner and if you are too, drawings will help you understand the steps.  If you are new to sewing I would suggest that you read through the steps a couple of times to let it sink in.  This really isn’t hard, but like anything new you are trying, it may take a time or two before it all makes sense.

For a rectangular or square table:

1. Measure the length of  the table

2. Next measure the width of the table

3. The next measurement you will need to factor in to your calculations is the “drop”.  This is the distance from the edge of the table to the floor, or how far the fabric will need to “drop”.  Most tables have a standard drop of 30″ but measure yours to be sure.

4. The basic formula for calculating the dimensions of your tablecloth are this:
Length + drop + drop+ an additional 2″ for hem allowance by Width + drop + drop +2″

OK for the sake of demonstration let’s assume your table is 6 feet long and 4 feet wide and the drop is 30 inches.  The length of your finished (hemmed) tablecloth will be 72″(6 ft.) +30″+30″ or a total of 132 “.  In order to have enough fabric to make a hem you will need to add an additional 2 ” so the unfinished length of you tablecloth will be 72″ +30″+30″+2″ = 134″.

Next we will need to figure the dimensions of the width of the tablecloth.  If the table is 4 feet wide you will need to figure 48″(4 ft.) +30″+30″ plus another 2″ for the hem or a total of 110″.

The total unfinished (unhemmed) size of your tablecloth will need to be 134″ x 110″.  Most fabric comes in widths of 45″, 48″, 54″ or sometimes 60″.  Let’s assume here that your fabric is 48″.  In order to reach the width of 110″ you will need to sew  3 pieces of  fabric together that are each 134″ long.

So you will end up with a very large rectangle and more fabric on the width than you actually need.  To keep the tablecloth symmetrical, or in other words to keep the seams equal distance from the middle of the cloth, you will need to trim away fabric from each side. Though the total of 3 x 48 is 144 you have to factor in the seams which will be roughly 1/2″ on each of the sides of each of the pieces of the fabric that is sewn, so you will lose a total of 2″ in seam allowance and the total width of this rectangle once it is sewn together will be 142″ .  By cutting away 16″ from each side you will end up with the desired width of 110″.  (Now you know why you should have been paying attention in math class.  Turns out you actually DO use math in real life after all!)

Now sew your hem by turning up the edge 1/2 ” and then turning it up again and stitching it down.  This will encase the raw edge so that you don’t have any fraying edges when you wash your tablecloth.

Making a round tablecloth is basically using the same method.  To make a round tablecloth here are the steps:

1. Measure the distance across the middle of the table.  Most standard round dining tables are 48″, 60″, 66″ or 72″, but this method is the same for any round table whether it is a small bedside table or a dining room table.

2. Next measure the drop

3. The formula for your calculations for a round tablecloth are:

Width + drop + drop + additional 2″ for hem.  This measurement is the size square you will need to cut the circle for your round cloth.

My dining room table happens to be 60″ so we will use that as our example.  So the measurement would be 60″ +30″ + 30″ +2″ or a total of 122″ square.  If again we are using 48″ wide fabric, we would need to sew 3 lengths of fabric that are 122″ long together.  We will end up with a large rectangle that we need to cut into a square.

So if our rectangle is 122″ x 142″ (remember we lose 2″ in the seam allowance) we would need to trim away 10″ from each side.

4. Next we will fold the square in half

5. Fold in half again forming a smaller square.  

Now using a tape measure, measure the length of the side of this smaller square.  Using that measurement ( in this case it would be 61″)  and starting at the folded corner, mark the measurement of the length moving across the square from one side to the other.  This is forming your cutting line, so take your time and if possible have someone else hold the tape measure in the corner while you pivot it around and make little marks as guidelines of where to cut.

6. Cut away the excess fabric to form your circle. Fold up the edge and stitch the hem.

Congratulations!  You have made a tablecloth….perhaps the first of many:)

Making a topper, a tablecloth that goes on top of the longer cloth, is essentially the same method for a rectangular or  round cloth as these we have given you except that you make the drop a smaller measurement.  The drop on a topper can be  anywhere from 6″ to 15″, depending on the look you want.

Now here is one last tip whether you make or buy your tablecloth if it is cotton- don’t iron it.  Simply get it very damp in the sink, pop it into the dryer on hot for 5 minutes and take it out and immediately put it on the table while it is still damp.  Smooth out any wrinkles with your hand and leave it to dry.  It will look like it has been professionally ironed and won’t take any time at all.

Enjoy “dressing up” your tables.  This may be the start of a whole new kind of abundant living:)