Make a Simple Tablecloth in Under an Hour

It’s easy to make a simple tablecloth in under an hour. Yes, I hear you say you can’t sew or you don’t have a sewing machine. But, honestly, to uplevel your lunch or dinner table in a hurry, there’s no excuse for not having a go at this simple DIY. I’m bringing back the tablecloth at the farmhouse. Why don’t you too?

Why Make a Simple Tablecloth?

Last week we concluded the extended birthday celebrations for Gavin. Due to COVID regulations, we were unable to celebrate his birthday en masse so we held four smaller celebrations. The last celebration was a luncheon on the verandah at the farmhouse with seven of our friends. We served a simple three-course lunch of sushi (made by our local world-renowned Sushi chef), a roast and dessert provided by one of my friends. But I digress. That has little to do with why I made a tablecloth.

For a week or so, while planning the lunch, I’d been thinking about the Spring mood board I made for the garden. It was pretty and feminine and when thinking about it, I realised I had the inspiration for our outdoor lunch setting.

There were three hiccups to this plan. Firstly, our weather is notorious for turning at the drop of a hat. The most glorious day could easily change to torrential rain and back in the space of minutes. The second flaw to my plan was the fact I do not own floral tablecloth. I had no intention of spending around $100 for one in the size I needed either. Last of all, I didn’t have the inclination to spend time online looking for one online. Way too much wasted time.

How to Make a Simple Tablecloth

The main thing you need to make a simple tablecloth is a piece of fabric, a drop cloth or a bedsheet. Any of these will work. I got some linen from Spotlight. It was in the clearance bin and ended up costing me $12! I still have a metre left over to use elsewhere. It’s worth noting that if you pick. The wider your fabric the better. Most tables are around a metre wide so standard 112cm wide is not wide enough to give a nice overhang. However, the fabric I bought was curtain material which is around 142cm wide. That gave me an overhang of about 18cm each side after I had put hems in.

You’ll also need a sewing machine and cotton in the colour of your fabric. HOWEVER, if you don’t have a sewing machine you could easily secure the hem with iron on hemming tape or even a hot glue gun. I’ve made cushions using the hot glue gun method. It will hold fabric well.

What To Do

Wash your fabric first in case there is shrinkage! I’ve learnt my lesson from not doing this.

Measure a piece of fabric around 50cm longer than the length of your table and cut the two ends to make a straight edge. I laid my fabric on the table and put a small nick where I wanted to cut. This saved time getting out the tape measure and laying things out. The selvedges (side seams) of the fabric will be the side seams of your cloth, so there is no need to trim them

After cutting the size you require, get out the iron and press a hem 2cm wide all the way around the four sides. On the side seams, you will only need to fold and press once as these seams are the ‘finished’ edges. On each end, you’ll need to fold the hem and press, then repeat to hide the raw edges.

Now it’s time to finish. To do this

• Either run a straight stitch all the way around the hem you’ve pressed OR
• Use iron-on hemming tape
• Put a bead of hot glue between the hem and fabric and stick the sides together.

There’s no need to iron again as you’ve already done this! Whichever method you choose, you will have a lovely tablecloth to use over and over again.