fitted oilcloth tablecover tutorial

So I have this table. Isn’t it awesome? Kid sized, and big enough for sisters or friends to share. My dad made it for my younger siblings a long time ago, and recently I “borrowed” it for a party and “forgot” to return it. Just kidding, my dad said I should just keep it at our house after the party and I just kept nodding and smiling, knowing the girls would love it. Big surprise that they do!

As cute as it is, there are a couple of dinged up spots on the top, and I had some oilcloth sitting around from my sponsor, Oilcloth Addict, so I made a quick table cover that is wipe-able and slips on and off easily!


I have enough for a cover for the seat too, just debating on whether or not I want to make more bias tape.

Update: I bit the bullet and made a cover for the bench and I love how it looks so much better now!

So here’s how I made it! This tutorial would apply to any rectangular table! (or bench)

You’ll need:

oilcloth-make sure to measure your table to see how much yardage you’d need, and oilcloth is usually wider than quilting cotton so take that into consideration too.

3/8″ elastic
thread
bias tape (enough yardage to go around your table)

Ok so first I just laid it out and wrestled with it a bit while getting it to line up with the table.

I wanted it to hang down 2.5″ on all the sides, a bit past the table top. So I trimmed it down using my ruler and scissors so that it was 2.5″ wider than the table top on all sides.

Then I pinched the corners together like so.

ย Then trimmed off the triangle, leaving plenty of seam allowance room. You want to have wiggle room so it’s easy to get on and not super tight.

Repeat with all the corners (or just use your ruler to measure the piece you cut out and cut the same size from the other corners)

Then with each corner, fold the two edges right sides together like so, and sew them together. Since you’re not dealing with the top side of the oil cloth, just sew with a regular needle and slightly larger stitches and you shouldn’t have any problems. Just don’t back stitch too much, as sewing and pinning through oilcloth leaves holes. (tie the thread ends together and trim.)

Then make sure it fits your table! I did have to adjust two corners-so start with a smaller seam allowance on those corners and then you can widen it if needed. I also cut two pieces of elastic to sew in to keep the ends secured down.

So next I just sandwiched the edge into my bias tape and sewed it along the edge. It’s ok to pin, as long as you pin inside the seam allowance so you can’t see the holes!

Then I made sure to pin in my elastic (6.5″ from each end) into the bias tape, and just sewed that right in! When you get to the end/beginning of where you started sewing your tape on, cut a little extra, tuck the raw edge under, and sew it down. Done!

Comments

  1. What a fantastic idea! Certainly looks better than having the table cloth draping over the sides (which is what is happening on my table at the moment). I have another layer of padding under the oilcloth to protect the my lovely oak tabletop from indentations etc from my daughter who likes to bang her cup and everything else on the table. It shouldn’t be too difficult to sew the two together do you think? Maybe with just slightly wider binding? I imagine it shouldn’t be too different from piecing several layers together when making a quilt. Something I’ll definitely be trying, thanks very much for the tutorial!

  2. Ahna @ Easier Than I Thought says

    I love the addition of the elastic. I made a cover for my little one’s wood table using an old vinyl tablecloth. It has been great for preventing scratches and such. She likes to try and take it off the table sometimes though. The elastic may help prevent that. Great idea!

  3. what a great idea, such pretty fabric, i’ve been wanting to do this for my outdoor tables but the fabric stores here don’t seem to carry much in the oilcloth line but your source has some lovely stuff i’ll have to order some ๐Ÿ™‚

  4. That turned out great! I think I want to make one for our family table!

  5. this is an awesome idea! I hate using table cloths because they slip and slide and are hard to wipe down. This is the perfect way to cover up our dinged up tabletop.

  6. I love you! To increase family time we have a computer room with three monitors…and so we have 2 of those ugly 6 foot folding tables in a corner. I have been dying for a way to make the corner cute, but table clothes just got gross so fast. This is perfect. Cute and cleanable!!! Thank you ๐Ÿ˜€

  7. Cute! Using the elastic is a great idea.
    You should definitely do the benches too, it will double the cute factor. =)

  8. Oh – this is perfect!! I just used oilcloth draped over a table for a quick party activity – I’m totally going to sew it up now and use it for a more permanent table cover solution. LOVE!!

  9. I have been looking for something to do with my kid’s cheap table and chairs seat from Ikea–this woudl be perfect!!!

  10. Thank you so much.will be using this tutorial for a fitted bed sheet instead. You have blessed me in so many ways. Thanks.

  11. I so want to make one!

  12. I bought some plastic coated fabric from IKEA & sewed a table cloth for our kitchen table, but I left the edges raw ~ I like your bias tape idea & will add it to my table cloth ๐Ÿ™‚

  13. Great idea! Thanks!

  14. Every year we have huge cookout. I’m definitely going to have this done for next year’s party. What a great idea. Thanks!

  15. Great idea- and fantastic tutorial- Thank you!
    Shannon

  16. I’m a sewing novice, but I think I MIGHT be able to do this. Do you know how one would do this for a round table? My father-in-law needs a cover for his table & I’d like to make this for him.

  17. Love this! I totally need it for our campsite table! And maybe the beach house table…. and and and!

  18. I’m thinking about making one for our kitchentable, but it’s oval. Any suggestions how to do it? I’m thinking about tracing the form of the tabletop an then sewing the 2,5″ strip all around the larger tabletop-piece. But I’m not sure I would like the look of that Seam… It won’t fit very nicely, I fear. I hope you have some advice for me, I just found you blog and I’ll stick around!

  19. Very cute Jess! Love the print of that oil cloth.

  20. Thanks so much for this tutorial! I used it sunday night to make covers for little kid folding tables ๐Ÿ™‚ My daughter’s 4th birthday was yesterday and we used the strawberry summer table cloths from Target – so it was super cheap to cover 2 kid tables ๐Ÿ™‚ I was lazy too and just used my pinking shears for the edges so I didn’t have to add the bias tape ๐Ÿ˜‰

  21. Wow, thank’s. I think I will make one.

  22. I love this so much! Any advice on how to do this for an oval table?

  23. I love this! We just got an awesome sturdy table, bu the top is in crumby condition. I found this on Pinterest. I think it’s exactly what I’m going to do!

  24. Genius. I’m so fed up of my oilcloth slipping about every time the kids pull on it to get themselves up to the table.

  25. Robyn Colon. says

    Can I pay u to make this for my table???

  26. SeldomKate says

    Thanks for sharing this great idea. I have my oilcloth picked out! My one question: where did you get that cute polka-dotted bias tape? I can only find plain or gingham. Many thanks, and Happy New Year!

  27. So where exactly do you put the elastic? Short ends, long sides, corners?

  28. What a great idea! I was wondering what to do with my precious oak dining table once the little ones will want to use it for crafts etc. Fitting the table cloth so it doesn’t keep shifting about is obvious….. if you think of it. Thanks for posting the idea!

  29. Rebecca Keene says

    This is EXACTLY what I need for my painting table in my art studio!!! I hate the ones that cling to the edge of the tables! One problem… my table is rounded on the corners so I am at a total loss for how to handle that. Still just do a rectangle? Any advice?? I would be happy to send a picture of the table if that would help. Thank you so much!!

  30. You can get a lot of different OILCLOTH prints, colors, florals Toiles, Fruits, Stripes etc. at http://www.oilclothalley.com ~ Oilcloth Alley ~ We have tons and this is such a cute idea ! We just bought a tent trailer and this will be perfect ๐Ÿ™‚

  31. Joan Linaberry says

    Thank you for taking the time to share! I never knew about oilclothalley.com, what a wonderful source! You did a beautiful
    job on your tablecloth & made it so easy to follow what you did! Bless You!

  32. The source for oilcloth mentioned in this email is out of business for several years, here’s where they used to source it

    OilclothByTheYard.com

  33. MARIA JEBELINA FERNANDES says

    i have the same design quilts. whats the size off the talble cloth

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