Make it Monday – How to Sew a Round Tablecloth

This past Christmas, Dave and I decided rather than buying each other gifts, we’d take that money and buy a reading chair for the corner of our bedroom.  It took us a while to find a chair that would be comfortable for both of us; short enough for me, tall enough for him.  We finally found one in February, but decided to keep looking since it was a bit over what we had wanted to pay.  Of course, when we went back to buy that chair because we couldn’t find any others that worked for us, it had already been sold.

We had to order a new one and wait the 6 to 10 weeks for it to come in.  The chair arrived last week and it fits perfectly in the corner by the window.

We already had a small round table to use for a side table, but it looked just a tad bit shabby next to our brand new chair.   So last week, I got busy and sewed a pretty round tablecloth to cover it.  Read on for the instructions for this simple sewing project.

To calculate the size the tablecloth needed:

Note: specific measurements for my tablecloth are in italics.

First, measure the diameter of the table.  Ours measured 20 inches.

Next, measure the height and double it.  Ours measured 23 ¾ inches.  Doubled that comes out to 47 ½ inches.

Then if turning under ¾ inch for the hem, add 1 ½ inches.

All together:  20 + 47 ½ + 1 ½ = 69 inches.  Just to give myself some wiggle room, I added an extra inch.  Meaning I needed a piece of fabric 70X70 inches, which also meant I had to piece the fabric.

So next, I had to calculate the size of panels I would need:

After preshrinking and trimming the selvedges, my fabric was 42″ wide.  I cut one panel 70″ long.

I knew I would need 1 inch for seam allowances (1/2″ for either side).  That would leave the center panel 41 inches.

70 – 41 = 29 inches needed to be added.  Which meant that two 14 ½ inch panels needed to be added to either side.  Adding ½ inch to each panel for a seam allowance, gave me a final measurement of 15″.

I, then, cut a second piece of fabric 70″ long.  From that I cut two 15″ wide panels.

To make a nice finished seam I chose to sew a princess seam:

Pin one of the narrow panels to the big panel, wrong sides together.  Sew a scant ¼” seam.

Trim seam slightly to get rid of any frayed threads.  Press seam to one side.  Turn the fabric right sides together and press seam flat.

Sew using a full ¼” seam.

Press finished seam toward small panel.  Topstitch in place.

Repeat for second small panel.

My completed piece of fabric measured 70X70 inches.

To cut the circle:

Fold fabric in half lengthwise and in half again.   Doing this gave me a 35X35 inch square.

Smooth the fabric so that it is laying flat with as few wrinkles as possible.

Place your measuring tape at the folded corner.   To obtain a 69″ circle, I place it at 34 1/2 inches.

Next smooth the measuring tape out flat.  Don’t stretch it.   With a pencil, mark the ¼ arc of your circle.  Move the measuring tape along the arc, while being careful to keep the correct measurement always on the folded corner.

I made tiny marks several places along the arc and then filled in with a solid line.

Before cutting, pin the layers of fabric together just inside the line.  This will prevent the layers from shifting while cutting.

Cut along the drawn line through all layers of fabric.

Remove the pins.

I now had the 69″ circle, I needed to fit my table.

For the hem:

Turn under ¾”.  Pin and press all the way around.

As the pins are removed, turn under the raw fabric edge until it meets pressed fold and then re-pin.

Sew.  Press completed tablecloth.

This is what my finished tablecloth looks like:

If you would like to make your own round tablecloth and need help understanding my instructions or making your own calculations, please feel free to leave a question in comments and I will do my best to answer.

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