Sewing Circle Tips; Table Linen

Sewing Circle Tips; Table Linen
A fresh new tablecloth will brighten up your home/shanty, and give the table a new lease of life. A clean table with a sprig of veldt flowers in a glass jam jar can make the most difficult situation into a true home.
Tablecloths can be different shapes; here we will show you  how to make square and round tablecloths.
You can use your individual creativity with the cloth; Portuguese friends of mine used to crochet lace around the edges. Afrikaans friends of mine used to weight the ends with clip on weights in the shapes of elephants and lions; and Mom used to bring her Dutch heritage to bear in light lace daintily stitched with invisible stitches around the edge of the cloth. 

Fabrics
For an ordinary tablecloth, you can choose a hardwearing fabric which hangs well and has a certain crispness, such as cotton or linen. Pretty prints, floral patterns, gingham, and plain material all work well.
The Austrian and German nuns who taught me at school helped me make cross stitch edgings and - I remember well - embroidery (a poke-bonnetted English maiden in an English country garden with hollyhocks and unevenly embroidered daisies, anyone?)

Edgings
The edges of the tablecloths can be finished with a simple hem or with bias binding. 

Make a square tablecloth
Measure the length and width of the table and decide on the overhang. One way of doing that is to measure from the top of the table to within 10cm (4inches) from a chair seat. You will need a piece of fabric equal to the width of the table, plus twice the overhang, plus 4cm (1 and three quarter inch) for hems by the length of the table, plus twice the overhang, plus 4cm (1 and three quarter inches) for hems.

Cut the fabric to the required size. If it is necessary to join widths, make two joins positioning the seams at an equal distance from the centre. Press seams open, then trim your seam allowance to 1 cm (half inch) and neaten raw edges. Turn under a 1 cm (half inch) wide double hem all round; pin, tack and stitch close to the edge. You can stitch by hand if you don't have a sewing machine, or by machine.

Make a round tablecloth
Measure the diameter of the table. Decide on the length of the cloth and measure the overhang accordingly. You will need a square of fabric each side of which is equal to the diameter of the table, plus twice the overhang.
Fold the fabric in quarters, right sides together, and mark with a tailor's tack the corner where the folds meet.
Cut out a square of paper the same size as the folded  fabric. Lay the paper on a flat surface. Place a drawing pin to which a piece of string is tied at the folded corner of the middle point of the fabric. Tie a pencil to the string's opposite end at a distance equal to one side of the square. Keeping the pencil at right angles to the paper, draw an arc from the top of the folded square to the bottom.
Unfold the round paper pattern, pin to your material, and cut out carefully. 
Measure the circumference of the table cloth and prepare the same length of bias binding. Unfold one edge and with right sides together and raw edges matching, stitch along the fold line. Fold the binding to the wrong side; iron flat. Tack. Then iron again to get a lovely finish to your sewing. Stitch by hand.
OR:
Fold in a double hem (half centimetre) all round the edge of the round cloth, and pin. Then tack. Iron flat with a damp cloth on the tablecloth. Stitch by machine (there's a slight trick to it) or by hand.
OR; You can tack on your lace to the double hem, and sew it on at the same time. You can also ruffle the lace.

Cheat's Tablecloth
So; you are a busy mom. Or career woman. Or charity worker. We've all been there. A function or party or meal is coming up, and we don't have a tablecloth. A quick cheat's tablecloth is a bedsheet, either white or coloured. It's brilliant. I always used to keep some tablecloths I bought from a shop at a bargain price for events. If the bedsheet is too long for your table, simply lay the sheet on the table, see how long it should be, and fold the sheet at the point it will fit your table. Pin the material, and cut to your new size at the fold. Then hem the material after tacking and ironing (pressing) the hem. Voila! Super seamstress. If anyone asks you where you got your lovely tablecloth, do as I did and just smile - they'll think you got it at Harrod's . . .

Sewing Circles
If you are training women to become seamstresses in order to be able to finance themselves, tablecloths - as well as duvets and matching pillowslips, are very popular.

See; http://www.sewhomegrown.com/2011/02/diy-round-tablecloth.html

The Sewing Project; http://www.mayanfamilies.org

Aid for Africa; http://www.aidforafrica.org/member-charities/east-african-center-for-the-empowerment-of-women-and-children/

India http://www.rallydev.com/rallyforimpact/content/sewing-brings-healing-and-freedom-women-india

With thanks to Sewhomegrown, Mayanfamilies, Aidforafrica, Rallyforimpact