My life is to make everything around me beautiful.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Ruffled Tablecloths

Let's start off with a pretty mosaic today.
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I don't know why I wanted to do this! But I wanted an extra tablecloth for our dining table, and I wanted it to be washable with no ironing. I have the other one in this post here. While I looked at fabrics all over town, I still couldn't find anything I wanted that was better than this old sheet set that I've been going to throw out for months now. Then I got to thinking—yeah, yeah, I know, a dangerous thing for me but I did. So I took the top sheet and ripped it into 4" wide lengths and put it aside for a while. (It takes me a while to decide on some things that I know I'll regret due to the intensive labor of that decision.) It took me hours to do the ruffling with my ruffler. I'd do a bit, rest because it was killing my back, do more, rest and so on.

Then later on, I ripped the elastic out of the bottom sheet. Now, understand that this sheet is soft and well-worn after many years of use on our bed. I ripped that into a 56" square. My intention was to do a french-type ruffled tablecloth with ragged edges. While I wanted it a bit "rough", I didn't want it unraveling in the washer or dryer. So what I did was stitch along the edges and let it fray a bit. Easy to do but very time consuming. I could have just hemmed it but I'm not enthusiastic about orderly hems. I wanted a bit of the shabby look. I got it!

These are the ruffles as I started. You may click on this to enlarge.


A bit further along. Okay, not really, but I took it in a different light and I was too lazy to take it out and have to do more photos! I practice on you bloggers. ;-) Enlarge this photo also.


Ruffles and more ruffles. Click to enlarge.


The finished tablecloth. And, NO, I did not put it on the table and properly straighten it out; I was just too tired at that point. Click to enlarge.


I thought I'd never finish! I ended up with 60 yards of ruffles. Click to enlarge.


A closeup of the hem. Click to enlarge.


As it appears on the table. Click to enlarge.


Another side. Click to enlarge.
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I love this little respite area. The owner made quite a statement with old wicker, a vintage sewing machine, an old crate, an old chair, a basket of apples and lots of old vintage stuff.


The perfect rose on a cupcake.


An Italian side street in all its quaintness.


An idea for a small picnic, drape a tablecloth over an umbrella.


A rose door hanger.


The yellow coloring on this old building complements the purple wisteria. Beautiful!


A french cottage to rent.
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Linked up with Create with Joy and The Dedicated House, At the Picket Fence, WOW
and  NMH