s has been stated on this blog in the past I am working to make my kitchen retro-awesome. For the longest time I felt like a key element was missing though. My eye would always wander to our little kitchen table with disappointment. We had gotten the table for free (it was left by a leaving tenant at one of our old apartments) and we were extremely happy to get it. The issue though is that the table, while functional, is just a basic Ikea piece with no flare...and definitely no retro-awesomeness.Since I am no Rockefeller I can't really just go and replace the table, and let's face it, I would feel kind of bad if I went and got rid of a perfectly functional table just because it wasn't pretty enough for me...I mean it is just a table, not a cocktail dress. So, it came to me that I needed to dress the thing up! It may sound extremely stupid, but a tablecloth didn't immediately enter my head. I had looked for tablecloths in the past and had found them super expensive and not pretty enough for me. All I wanted was a simple cotton number that had a little sparkle and a little color to brighten my kitchen. After perusing some more websites though and thinking of what might be best, it finally struck me that I needed to make my own tablecloth!
The only issue here is that, as I have also stated before, I am no master sewer...I don't even have a sewing machine. With that in mind I thought long and hard how to get a custom tablecloth on my table. I was having a little craft pow-wow with my friend one day and had mentioned my plans and we got to discussing hemming. She kindly offered me the use of her sewing machine, but she also very superbly told me about hem tape (note, I am pretty sure it was cheaper at Michaels). This wonder of the modern world is a strip of tape-like material you put between fabric and iron to make the flaps stick. How awesome is that?!? Amateurs like me can make a simple piece of simpleness with no problems. With that thought racing through my head I hit Fabricworm to find the fabric of my dreams!
It didn't take long to find what I was looking for, and not much more time for the beau to approve it. I had been looking for something that would be subtle, slightly retro, with a blue to add new color to the kitchen, and red to tie it all together. Imagine my joy when I found Cosmo Cricket! This fabric is fun and yet not overpowering. I scooped up a couple of yards and waited for it to arrive.
Once I got the fabric I went ahead and placed it on the table, without hemming, just to see how spectacularly it complimented my kitchen. There it sat for about a month, partially due to my laziness and partially due to the horrible heat wave we have been experiencing and the lack of air conditioner in my kitchen. One cool night though I set to work!
The first thing I did was to obviously gather all my supplies.
Ducks in a row:
With my supplies ready all I had to do next was line up the "tape" where I wanted the hem to be (and fold):
and iron.:
Next I just placed it on my table:
and admired it!:
I really feel like this fabric pulled all the pieces of our kitchen together, and can't say how thrilled I am at how easy it was to do.
Here is another quick shot of the fabric:
I guess all that is left to say is that if someone as horrible with measurements, as inept at sewing, and as impatient as I am can create their own table cloth no one has an excuse not to! So enjoy!
*cap supplied by Jessica Hische at DailyDropCap
