I love hosting events outside during the summer.  My outdoor decorating routine always includes red, white, and blue.  It’s so cheerful and patriotic, you can’t go wrong with investing in these decorations because they never go out of style.  Even though I made this table cloth for a Flag Day celebration, it’s good for all the summer holidays from Memorial Day to Labor Day including Flag Day and Independence Day.  It’s also large enough to cover my indoor dining room table, which is useful in case the summer-time weather forecast includes rain.

Flag Day Table Cloth

This table cloth is finished on the front and the back side so it’s also reversible, in case you’d like to mix it up a bit.

Project: Table Cloth – this cloth is more of a mat and will sit on top of my indoor dining room table without hanging down and can also be used outdoors as well.

Table Cloth Finished size:  42” wide x 102” long

Wash, dry and press fabric smooth, first, prior to cutting

Top (blue) fabric: 39” wide x 101” long

Bottom (red) fabric: 42” wide x 104” long

Trim off edge with printed name on both the red fabric and the blue fabric.

Then, cut the blue fabric to to 39” wide and 101” long.  You’ll use the 3” cut off long piece of fabric for the ties later in the project.

Next, cut the red fabric to 104” long.  I didn’t have to cut the width on the red fabric, other than trimming off the selvage edge.

With right sides together, line fabric with up with long sides matching.  Pin to keep in place.  Make sure to leave extra 1 1/2” extra fabric at each end to wrap around ends, after sides are sewn together.

Next, arrange fabric to pin other length-wise seam.  Adjust your extra fabric so that the extra is in the middle of the table cloth and your sides can line up to be pinned.  Again, make sure to leave extra 1 1/2” extra fabric at the end to wrap around ends, after sides are sewn together.

Using a 1/2” seam allowance, sew along both long sides of table cloth, removing pins as you go along so that you don’t sew over them.  Your project will be a long tube with openings at both ends when you finish this step.

Turn your table cloth right sides out.  Arrange it on your ironing board and press it so that the amount of red fabric that overlaps the blue fabric is equal on both side seams.

Pin top edge and then fold bottom (red) fabric around to blue side and match up unfinished edges.

Then, press it over again and pin in place.  Carefully sew this across both ends and press well with a hot iron.

For the ties, take the cut off blue fabric and press with a bias tape maker while pressing with hot iron.

Once tape is made, fold and press again, then sew along the edge, making one long strip.

With a long piece of seamed edging, you’ll have plenty to use for ties.

I cut this long strip into 4 equal strips and knotted the ends so that they wouldn’t pull through my grommets.

By adding one grommet to each of the corners, I was able to string my ties through the table cloth and attach it to the leg of the table.  No more table cloth fly-aways for me!

The table cloth still looks pretty indoors, on my dining room table and the grommets add an extra detail touch, even though they’re not being used.

The material used in this project is from Riley Blake Designs, who provided me with this fabric.  Thank you!  This post was featured on MomItForward.com on June 4, 2012.

How do you like to decorate for the summer holidays?

Go Gingham related links:

Even my camp cooking supplies are red, white and blue
Quilting techniques helped when making this table cloth
Homemade Halloween decorations that can be used again and again
Not a sewer?  Start here with easy cloth napkins – you can make these!
Our dining room table doubles as a ping-pong table
I used grommets on the shower curtain I made, too
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