Saturday, January 1, 2011

Quick Turnaround Tablecloth

Hi, I am the newest contributor to 'The Test Nest.' I am, in fact, Leslie's sister. I just do a lot of random stuff. . . sew, bake, entertain, teach fitness classes, plan lessons for my 9th and 10th grade English students, etc. So yeah, that is me, and I am Erin. Let's get started. . .

So I not so nonchalantly mentioned that I am a teacher, and I am currently at the tail end of my winter break. It has been great. I vowed not to buy anymore fabric for a while, so I'm doing what I can to use up the part of the mound I have accumulated. I'm doing pretty well. I have an abundance of friends with December and January birthdays so they are getting handmade gifts, I am making sweet trinkets for my baby niece, and baby items for the future baby McGarry.

Anyway, I have had this one large piece of charming fabric from Ikea for a couple years, but just haven't known what to do with it. See for yourself. . .


Anyway, after it was decided that we would be hosting an impromptu new year's party I started thinking about what I could do to liven the place up without having to do much. Ah ha! A tablecloth with the said fabric.

So here is what I did.

I measured the table. 33"x33". I wanted about 5" of fabric to hang off each side of the table so I added an extra inch on for the 1" hem and for good measure. So that makes an extra 6" per side or if you don't have to work through math as slowly as me, you would know to add 12" to the width and length, 45"x45".


I measured and the fabric in each direction, 45". I cut a little snip at 45 inches and ripped the fabric to ensure it was on the grain and straight. It is far more accurate and easy to rip straight lines into fabric. It is also way more fun.



Next up, hemming the edges. I used a nice, easy burrito hem for this one. I measured, folded, and pressed up one inch and then folded it again for a half inch hem.

That was part that took the longest, and when I say long I mean about 5 or 10 minutes. Nice, huh? Now for the stitching. I made sure I had a full bobbin of black thread to ensure one long seam. I was shooting for green thread, but I only had lime green, so black it was. I used a 1/2 in seam allowance for a nice clean hem.

Ta da!

And there it is my friends, a lovely table cloth in about 30 minutes. In the words of my cooking idol, Ina Garten, "How easy is that?"

Inspirational sewing play-list contained:

-Ye Ishqu Hai, Shreya Ghoshal
-Get Up - James Brown
-Move Shake Drop, DJ Lax, Flo Rida & Casely
-Evacuate the Dancefloor, Cascada
-Soni de Nakhre, Laabh Jnjuwa, Sneha Pant & Wajid
-Let Me Think About It, Ida Corr vs. Fedde Le Grand
-Bad Things, Jace Everett
(don't hate, I was working it)

Drink of choice
Water

2 comments:

  1. This was a very fun thing to read in the Denver airport--even with the spotty internet connection.

    I love the playlist! Excellent idea. Double dig!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the idea. It will look nicer if the sides are longer.

    ReplyDelete

Leave us a message! Tell us what you think!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Quick Turnaround Tablecloth

Hi, I am the newest contributor to 'The Test Nest.' I am, in fact, Leslie's sister. I just do a lot of random stuff. . . sew, bake, entertain, teach fitness classes, plan lessons for my 9th and 10th grade English students, etc. So yeah, that is me, and I am Erin. Let's get started. . .

So I not so nonchalantly mentioned that I am a teacher, and I am currently at the tail end of my winter break. It has been great. I vowed not to buy anymore fabric for a while, so I'm doing what I can to use up the part of the mound I have accumulated. I'm doing pretty well. I have an abundance of friends with December and January birthdays so they are getting handmade gifts, I am making sweet trinkets for my baby niece, and baby items for the future baby McGarry.

Anyway, I have had this one large piece of charming fabric from Ikea for a couple years, but just haven't known what to do with it. See for yourself. . .


Anyway, after it was decided that we would be hosting an impromptu new year's party I started thinking about what I could do to liven the place up without having to do much. Ah ha! A tablecloth with the said fabric.

So here is what I did.

I measured the table. 33"x33". I wanted about 5" of fabric to hang off each side of the table so I added an extra inch on for the 1" hem and for good measure. So that makes an extra 6" per side or if you don't have to work through math as slowly as me, you would know to add 12" to the width and length, 45"x45".


I measured and the fabric in each direction, 45". I cut a little snip at 45 inches and ripped the fabric to ensure it was on the grain and straight. It is far more accurate and easy to rip straight lines into fabric. It is also way more fun.



Next up, hemming the edges. I used a nice, easy burrito hem for this one. I measured, folded, and pressed up one inch and then folded it again for a half inch hem.

That was part that took the longest, and when I say long I mean about 5 or 10 minutes. Nice, huh? Now for the stitching. I made sure I had a full bobbin of black thread to ensure one long seam. I was shooting for green thread, but I only had lime green, so black it was. I used a 1/2 in seam allowance for a nice clean hem.

Ta da!

And there it is my friends, a lovely table cloth in about 30 minutes. In the words of my cooking idol, Ina Garten, "How easy is that?"

Inspirational sewing play-list contained:

-Ye Ishqu Hai, Shreya Ghoshal
-Get Up - James Brown
-Move Shake Drop, DJ Lax, Flo Rida & Casely
-Evacuate the Dancefloor, Cascada
-Soni de Nakhre, Laabh Jnjuwa, Sneha Pant & Wajid
-Let Me Think About It, Ida Corr vs. Fedde Le Grand
-Bad Things, Jace Everett
(don't hate, I was working it)

Drink of choice
Water

2 comments:

  1. This was a very fun thing to read in the Denver airport--even with the spotty internet connection.

    I love the playlist! Excellent idea. Double dig!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the idea. It will look nicer if the sides are longer.

    ReplyDelete

Leave us a message! Tell us what you think!