Patriotic Tablecloth for a Round Table

A few years ago, I was having friends over for a July 4th bar-b-cue. I wanted something to decorate my patio table, but had no patriotic themed tablecloth or anything. I looked in my fabric stash and found some red and blue patriotic print fabric. I measured my table and pieced these fabrics together to make a cute tablecloth the morning of the party!

I got a lot of compliments and was very pleased with how it turned out. It was simple to make and a quick solution to my lack of decorations. This tablecloth can be adapted for any occasion or holiday simply by changing the choice of fabrics.

I'm sharing it here now, so you can make your own!

tape measure

red patriotic print fabric

blue patriotic print fabric

scissors

pinking shears

rotary cutter

rotary cutter ruler

yard stick

fabric chalk or other fabric marking tool

sewing machine

thread

1. Measure the diameter of your table. My table diameter = 40 inches
2. Decide how much drop (amount you want to hang over the edge of your table) and multiply by 2. my drop was 7 inches. 7" x 2 = 14"
3. Add the diameter measurement to the drop x 2; 40"+ 14" = 54"
4. I'm going to make a 54" square by piecing the red and the blue fabrics together with my blue fabric being about 1/3 of the square leaving the red to be 2/3 of the square.
5. The red fabric needs to be 54" long and 36" wide ( 2/3 of 54" = 36"). So, I need 1.5 yards ( 54" divided by 36" = 1.5 yds)
6. The blue fabric needs to be 54" long and 18" wide (1/3 of 54" = 18"). So, I need 1 yard; I cut 2 pieces 18" wide and 36" long and stitched the ends together.
7. If your table is larger or smaller you need to calculate the amounts of each color of fabric your will need.

1. Unfold the red fabric so that you have a single layer. Fold the fabric in half lengthwise (opposite the way it was folded from the store) . Lay your fabric on a table so that the selvages are vertical on both sides; the width between selvages should be somewhere between 42-45 inches. Measure 36 inches from one end (not including selvages) and trim off the excess.

2. Unfold the blue fabric so that you have a single layer. Fold the fabric in half lengthwise (opposite the way it was folded from the store) . Lay your fabric on a table so that the selvages are vertical on both sides; the width between selvages should be somewhere between 42-45 inches. Measure 18.5 inches from one end (not including the selvage) and cut with scissors or rotary cutter. Cut another piece the same size so that you have 2 pieces of blue fabric measuring ~36" x 18.5"

1. Sew the short ends of the blue fabric with right sides together using a 1/2" seam allowance. Backstitch at the beginning and the end to secure stitches. You should now have a long strip of blue fabric measuring 18" by ~72".

2. Sew the long strip of blue fabric to the long side of the red fabric with right sides together using a 1/2" seam allowance. Backstitch at the beginning and the end to secure stitches. The blue fabric will be longer than the red fabric, but you will trim this extra fabric off in the next step.

1. Lay the red and blue fabrics stitched together on a table. Cut off the excess blue fabric so that it is even with the red fabric. You should now have a large square measuring ~54 inches.

2. Fold the square in half and then half again so that you have a smaller square. Lay the folded square on the table.

3. Using a yardstick and your fabric chalk, trace an arc on the square keeping one end of the yard stick at the folded corner and the other end moving from one side of the square to the other. Measure the arc so that the radius is 27 inches (half the diameter of our round tablecloth).

4. Cut the circle along the arc you traced through all the layers (or 2 at a time) with your pinking shears. This will keep your fabric from fraying.

5. Unfold the circle and put it on your table! ENJOY!

6. If you have time, you may want to hem your cloth by folding the edge under and stitching or you can add your trim of choice to the edge.