Blue and white tablecloth

I own blue and white dishes. Normally this isn’t a problem—until I try to find a cute tablecloth that looks good with my dishes. Apparently, blue as a kitchen or dining color has been out for several seasons. The market is flooded with red, green, and aqua. Instead of waiting for blue to come back in, I took matters into my own hands. First I checked the standard tablecloth size for my 36- x 60-inch table. Turns out, a 60- x 84-inch cloth fits tables 36 x 60 to 48 x 72. Then I found this lovely blue indoor/outdoor fabric at Fabric.com. At 56 inches wide, I figured it would work fine because my table was on the smaller end of that range. After that, hemming the fabric and adding pom-pom trim was a cinch. Final dimensions (pom-pom to pom-pom): 57 x 81 inches.

How to make a tablecloth with pom-pom trim

Supplies

  • 2-1/2 yards of 56-inch-wide (or wider) fabric (for a 3- x 5-foot table)
  • 8 yards of pom-pom trim
  • thread
  • Aleene’s Stop Fraying

Tools

  • scissors
  • sewing machine
  • iron & ironing board
  • rotary cutter and mat (optional)
  • sewing gauge (or small ruler)
  • long metal ruler (or yardstick)
  • straight pins

cut a clean edge

1. First cut a clean edge at one end of the fabric. Measure 83-1/2 inches and cut the other side.

Fold, iron, and pin

2. Fold over the two long edges 5/8 inch twice, so the raw edge of the fabric is tucked underneath. Iron it flat and pin in place. Repeat on all four sides.

sew

3. Sew about 3/8 inch from the edge. Back-stitch at the ends. Don’t sew farther away from the edge because your stitching will show above the pom-pom trim. Repeat on all four sides.

sew on fringe

4. Apply Aleene’s Stop Fraying to the end of the pom-pom trim before sewing. Sew using a zigzag stitch down the middle of the pom-pom trim. Make sure you cover your original seam. Back-stitch at the ends.

pom-pom trim

5. Cut the pom-pom trim to the right length after you have sewn to the end.

seal the end

6. Apply Aleene’s Stop Fraying to the end. I used Krazy Glue instead because it’s what I had on hand. I don’t recommend it because it dries stiff and makes the threads translucent. Repeat steps 4-6 on all four sides of the tablecloth.

corner of the pom-pom fringe

7. If your layers are getting too thick at the corner to sew in your machine like mine did, abut the ends of the pom-pom trim at the corner instead of overlapping it.

final tablecloth

8. Now iron your tablecloth again, if necessary, and you’re done.