Tag: sewing

New Tablecloth, No Pattern Used

~ Pamela Klingensmith ~ 4 Comments

I’ve been in search of a new tablecloth for a couple of years now.  I never realized finding an oval tablecloth (in anything other than a solid polyester, blah!) would be so difficult.  Am I the only one on the planet who owns an oval table?  And are oval table owners only worthy of ugly tablecloths???  This is when sewing skills prove priceless . . . if fabric manufacturers would see fit to produce fabric wider than 54″ for the home sewing market!!!  That said, here is my newly sewn tablecloth, and I LOVE it.

My table, without the leaf, is 42″ wide and 60″ long.  Therefore, the sides are slightly shorter than I would have liked them to be, but all in all I’m very satisfied with the result.  The fabric I used is Rural Jardin by French General for Moda.  It is a linen/cotton blend and is 54″ wide.  I ordered 2 1/2 yards from one of my favorite fabric stores http://www.fatquartershop.com/ .
Here’s how I made it:  I started by prewashing my fabric, ironing it, and laying it out on the floor to mark my sewing lines. 

I then took an old tablecloth purchased a number of years ago and placed it over the top of my fabric so I could “draw” my sewing lines.  Before layering in this fashion I did mark the center of my fabric and the center of my existing tablecloth by folding each in fourths and using a pin to mark the center.  Then I matched and pinned the centers when I layered them.  It then looked like this: (See how the fabric is not quite as wide as it really should be?  Oh well, it can’t be helped.

I simply traced around the tablecloth with a washable fabric marker.  I did not leave much of a seam allowance (only about 1/4″) because I knew I would finish the edges on my serger with a rolled hem.  My tracing lines looked like this:



There was no need to even cut around my traced lines because the serger does all that for me.  I just took it to my machine and stitched away.  

Here is a close-up of the rolled hem:

Some time ago I made a table runner using the same line of fabric (100% quilting fabric, no linen) and it looks great on top of my table with my new tablecloth.




Quilting Catch Up

~ Pamela Klingensmith ~ Leave a comment
It’s been a very long time since I posted anything, so here are a few quilting endeavors from the past few months. Yes, I have actually accomplished a lot more, but alas, I dropped the ball and did not photograph them before giving them as gifts. So here are three for now.



Grandbaby #4 Quilt



A sweet quilt for my sweet Shirley, born last June




This was a kit purchased from a magazine a couple of years ago. It uses machine embroidery applique for the quilt squares and Minkee fabric for the pastel colored borders. The light colored background is a subtle print of 100% cotton.



Away in a Manger Wallhanging



This was a kit purchased from Fat Quarter Shop.  Don’t you just love kits?



Close up of baby Jesus, don’t you love his sparkly halo?  (Gold Fabric Glitter Paint)



Some of the quilting from the back side

 Last, but not least, Christmas Tree Throw



Back of the quilt to show some of the quilting (I’m still learning!)



Simplicity 3678 Knit Dress

~ Pamela Klingensmith ~ Leave a comment

This is one of my favorite dress patterns. The instructions are plain and simple, just like the dress. I sewed view B last year, but did not write a review. I liked it so much that this time around, I sewed view A so I could have a comfortable, summer dress. This is a great pattern for beginners since there are no zippers, buttonholes, etc. The only extra details are the pleats in the bodice front.

I like that this pattern is for knit fabric. I love to wear jersey knit dresses (they don’t have to be ironed and they don’t require special laundry care). Jersey knit dresses look good all day because they don’t wrinkle. I can also use my serger for most of the seams on this pattern and that makes the sewing go much faster and it gives it such a nice finished look on the inside. The pattern also has a perfect fit for my not so perfect body (lol)! The short sleeve version has 9 pattern pieces, but don’t let that deter you if you are pattern shy. It is still a quick, easy dress to sew, and in my humble opinion, gives RTW results.