How to Create a Ballard Designs Knock Off Burlap Tablecloth

 Here is a blast from my blogging past!  Originally post on October, 30th, 2009.  :)

 

 

I’ve been needing a kitchen table for my guest house for a looooooooong time now.

But I wasn’t sure what I wanted.

At first, I was thinking my husband could make me an island with some bar stools to use as my eating area in the guest house.

But I placed a large buffet table in the middle of the room, to get an idea of what an island would look like, and I didn’t like it.

It took away from the detail of the cabinets.

So then I started thinking I wanted a small table with two chairs.

But what kind of table did I want?

Well, I found what I wanted in my favorite inspiration spot…Ballard Designs magazine. (If you don’t get this magazine in the mail, visit their website and sign up to get it FREE in the mail.)

ballard designs burlap tablecloth knock off

It is a burlap tablecloth with jute trim and sells for $85.00.

Of course I said, “Why buy it, when I can make it?”

So I went to Hobby Lobby and got 4 1/2 yards of burlap. I like their burlap because it is a softer, smoother material, and it doesn’t stink like most burlap. :)

Their burlap was on sale for $1.99 a yard, so it cost me only $9.00.

how to make a round burlap tablecloth

And here is the table I was going to use. It was a small patio table that Mom and Dad had on their back porch. Since I was covering it with a tablecloth, it didn’t matter what it looked like underneath! And it was the perfect size. (And price…FREE!)

Here’s how I measured it:

how to make a round burlap tablecloth

(Do not laugh at my drawing! I just really thought you would need to see this part if you wanted to make your own tablecloth. You would just use the measurements of the table you were using, not mine, of course.)

That is a total length of 94 inches.

My burlap was 45 inches wide. So I folded it over lengthwise 47 inches (half of the 94 inches I needed.)

I did that TWICE, so I would have two identical pieces.

how to make a round burlap tablecloth

Then I took one of those pieces and cut it right down the middle.

how to make a round burlap tablecloth

I laid the two smaller pieces on both sides of the larger piece. I unfolded them to show you what it would look like.

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Then I sewed each of the two smaller pieces to each side of the whole piece. Ladies, I didn’t even pin the pieces together! I just held the pieces together on the sewing machine and sewed a straight stitch all the way down. The burlap did well this way. I wouldn’t be able to do that with every fabric. And I wasn’t worried if the ends matched up perfectly because I knew I would be trimming it and adding fringe.

how to make a round burlap tablecloth

(The reason you add two smaller pieces to the side is so that you don’t have a seam running down the middle of the top of your table. Doing it this way keeps the seams on the sides of the table.)

Now, we are almost finished.

You need to fold this entire piece in half (from top to bottom).

how to make a round burlap tablecloth

Then fold it in half again, just like folding a piece of paper (from side to side).

how to make a round burlap tablecloth

Since the total length of my tablecloth was 94 inches, I needed to take half that amount to measure where I was going to cut the material, which was 47 inches.

Since I couldn’t find my sewing tape measure, I used my husband’s metal tape measure to cut a string 47 inches long.

My oldest son helped me with this part.

He held the string at the top corner of the material, as I measured.

how to make a round burlap tablecloth

Then I drew a line from one side to the other to show where to cut.

how to make a round burlap tablecloth

 

how to make a round burlap tablecloth

(My son told me I should leave the scissors on the material to show you guys that I cut it with them. How cute is that?)

The angle at which I took this picture makes the right side look long than the other side, but they are both 47 inches long.

Then I put it on the table to see if it worked. (I was doubting myself a little at this point.)

But it DID!

how to make a round burlap tablecloth

Now I need to add some fringe at the bottom. I found some at Hobby Lobby that I loved, but even with the 40% off coupon, it is still pretty pricey.

So I am on the hunt for a bargain, or a homemade version.

I will post about that when I get it finished.

I could just sew a hem on the bottom, but I was really wanting some cute fringe.

But for now, I am very pleased with the results.

how to make a round burlap tablecloth

And now our guests have a place to eat!

how to make a round burlap tablecloth

I will be getting some glass to put on top of the table to protect the burlap.

The two black chairs on each side of the table were purchased at Goodwill for $30.00.

They looked like this when I bought them…

March 2009 162

And after I re-did them, they looked like this…

chairs 019

You can read about that project HERE.

I thought I would be using them by the couch in the “living” area of the guest house. But now I think they are perfect for the kitchen table.

I still have some more projects for the guest house that I am working on, and I will share them as soon as they are finished.

But for now, thanks for letting me share this project with you!

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Blessings,

 

10 Comments

  1. Too cute! What if you took some of the left over burlap and pulled out threads to make a fringe? Sew on to the table cloth every few inches, tie in a knot. Would that work?
    God Bless

    1. Traci I was looking through the Holly Lobby ad and they have different burlap ribbon advertised at $1.99 for 6 feet. I don’t know if you are close to a Holly Lobby but you might like to check it out.

  2. ” Sew simple “…. Glad you show us how easy it truly is Traci!! I Agee the fringe will give it a nice finishing touch!! It looks great with the chairs too :)

  3. Love this idea! I have been wanting to do something with burlap for the fall and I purchased a coffee burlap bag awhile back at the flea market I should do something like this with!! Awesome job thanks for posting!!

  4. Love your tablecloth, very stylin. I agree that trim is getting very expensive nowadays. I try to buy mine @ Joann’s Fabric or Hancock using a 50% off coupon on sr. day (additional percentage off. ) Maybe you could get an older friend to “beard” for you to get the sr. discount . . .

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