sewing projects – Page 3 – French Ethereal

Valentine’s Day is… the perfect time to create a pretty sparkly heart-strewn tablecloth and napkin set to grace your special someone’s Valentine’s table.

Going out on Valentine’s Day is not always high on everyone’s list due to overcrowded restaurants and even less parking. Creating your own beautiful table with handmade linens is a fun and inexpensive way to liven up a Valentine’s Day party at home…

Affiliate links provided for your convenience. If you do
make a purchase I will earn a small amount, thank you!
Please click HERE to read my full disclosure.

Make your own Valentine’s table linens

Start with some really pretty fabric like these

found at Joann Fabrics:

Valentine’s Day cotton fabric ~ Shades of Pink Plaid
Valentine’s Day Glitter Cotton Fabric 43″ ~ Patterned Hearts on Red

A few years ago I made these Valentine’s napkins and tablecloth for a tea I was having while we were still in our last home in California. Then last year I found a book on napkin folding and set a tea table for that.

Since I don’t have that other Valentine’s table linen set here with us currently I thought I’d make another…

And here we are!

😉

Sewing instructions

Measure your tablecloth fabric and cut off any excess to create a perfect square, in this case my tablecloth began as 43″ with selvage and finished is 42″ square. 1 1/4 yards usually gives you a 45″ square but all fabric shrinks differently; be sure to wash your fabric before sewing.

Turn under your edges and miter the corners by cutting off about 1/4″ on the diagonal ~ this takes away the bulky corner when you are sewing.

Press under 1/4″ all the way around then press under a second time to enclose the raggedy edges of each side, pin as necessary. Hem stitch your seam on the right side from 1/8″ to a scan 1/4″ away from the fold with a regular straight stitch or any decorative stitch you would like. Be sure the seam catches all the edges inside and go back and restitch sections as necessary. {This is where a good seam ripper comes in handy!}

Make your napkins the same way ~ here you can see all the turned edges ready to be hemmed.

Press your tablecloth and napkins once more and you are ready for a party!

I’ll be sharing more of this Valentine’s table linen set and the tablescape I created to share with Mr. Ethereal tomorrow for a Tablescape Thursday post. Stop back by to see the table then!

(And remember that Share Your Style goes up tonight at 7:00pm EST/6:00pm CST/4:00pm PST.)

Sharing with

Style Showcase #67 ~ Shabbyfufu

Wonderful Wednesdays ~ Oh, My Heartsie Girls!

Feathered Nest Friday ~ French Country Cottage

Thursday Favorite Things ~ The Eclectic Red Barn
Homestyle Gathering ~ Serving Up Southern

Happy sewing!

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Painting and Slipcovering Furniture for an Updated Look

August 13, 2018June 21, 2019 French Ethereal

I love the look of painted furniture and several years ago

I finally got around to painting four of our six French style

dining room chairs plus our coffee table a lovely soft white.

I’m thinking of working soon on refinishing a little black cabinet

here soon so…

Today I thought we’d talk a little about redoing furniture

to give a tired piece of furniture a brand new look!

🙂

In the background, you can see one of the unpainted stained caned chairs to the right of our little china cabinet with flowers in a French style tin. The other I kept up in our bedroom next to my French style Drexel desk. 🙂

Painting furniture is pretty easy to do with the right tools

and really all it takes is some sandpaper, a paint brush, your favorite can of paint and a little elbow grease!

I know I’ve shared about repainting furniture here before but

each time I talk about it it’s from a little bit of

a different angle.

🙂

Here you can see lots of bits of sanded wood along the chair’s seat top ~ I really enjoy sanding
as it’s something really relaxing to do!

Here’s what you do

Grab some 60-100 grit sandpaper and using a small palm sander or a sanding block sand down all the areas to be painted on your furniture piece ~ this removes the previous wax, varnish or polyurethane finish and will work down through to and remove

the stain, too.

Be gentle when working around any carved detailing as it’s

really easy to smooth it off.

{Ask me how I know this… ;)}

The nice thing about using just sandpaper and NOT using a

chemical remover to take off existing varnish is that there is nothing that has to be thrown away at a special waste site as

may have to be done with some removers.

Afterwards wipe your chair with a clean damp rag to

remove all the sanding dust.

Lightly sand with 220 grit sandpaper a second time if

you want your piece to feel really smooth once it’s finished.

Perfect paint

Most woodworkers paint “with the grain” but sometimes this is

hard to do around carved details so be forgiving with yourself

if around details your paint looks a bit swirly.

A nice wax finish after your paint dries gently rubbed into and around these carved details will buff out any of this

“ugly part” that happens while painting plus really make these details really pop.

On these chairs I painted two light coats of paint and lightly sanded with 220 grit sandpaper in between the two coats of paint.

After the second coat dried I sanded back to reveal a little

of the original wood and leftover stain giving them a

Shabby Chic look then finished them with a clear wax finish.

Recently I was reading how Cindy of Edith and Evelyn Vintage

added several layers to create a beautifully painted

pink French table.

She used several layers of different chalk paints then sanded back

between coats and lastly waxed this sweet table to give it its museum quality look.

Check out the link above to see more of her lovely pink table and how she created this look plus to visit her lovely website.

🙂

The top of the table was going back to its original 1980’s look… Definitely an ugly phase for this poor table! Love the way
the legs turned out but eventually that washed off, too. 🙁

For the coffee table I used a wash of white paint with the paint cut down 1/3 with water.

After sanding off the original poly finish and sanding back to the light pine stain the table had that 1990’s white in the grain look

I was trying to achieve.

Above is the first incarnation of this table before I worked

on it a second time.

I made the mistake of NOT waxing it with a clear coat so when

I’d go and clean it the paint would wash off ~ hence why it’s

important to add some kind of wax or polyurethane to seal in

the color and look you’ve created.

Same table with more white repainted on it and lightly sanded over the detailing.

This coffee table has had three lives so far and I don’t see why

it can’t have another once it gets here to Texas!

I love its size and it’s perfect for putting your feet on and for

serving and with some TLC and a new paint job

it’ll be loved again.

Making slipcovers for your furniture has the wonderful benefit of creating a totally different look while not changing the actual furniture’s underlying design and fabric.

Slipcovers are great in that they can easily be whipped off

when in need of washing, they update furniture without making

permanent changes which sometimes we are torn about doing

when using paint or recovering a piece, and they can be

created in any number of ways to suit one’s taste.

Last year I shared How to Make a Slipcover in three parts

here, here and the reveal here. Slipcovers can be very trendy

and help to update our homes to whatever style

we currently like.

One of two sofa slipcovers made to give our living room a totally different look. Here’s a better look at the refinished coffee table with its second paint job.

Ruffles and pleats change the entire look of a slipcover such as in these sofa slipcovers I made several years ago out of drop cloths.

Here below you can see the original settee opposite and how both

sofas were covered in floral fabrics.

Adding or not adding piping around the slipcover’s edges

adds another layer to the look.

Here I’ve done both:

The slipcover on the couch has piping trim added to the back of the sofa upper seat {not seen but on its backside} as well as piping along the seat bottom and arms for added

definition and durability.

On the seat covers I did not add piping as I thought it would clash

with the piping already on the underneath fabric, just visible along

the front of the seat edges.

Sorry for the dark photo! I was just learning how to use our Canon camera when I took this photograph.

On trend

On the easy chair above I used piping along the chair’s matelasse back pillow edging like the original cover had.

Piping creates a really clean and contemporary look that works

well with all furniture styles making a piece always look

up-to-date and fashionable.

Piping also has the added benefit of stabilizing fabric seams making

a chair’s seams really durable ~ good on furniture which get

a lot of use.

If you’d like to put piping on your next recovering or pillow project read how to make piping or welting here.

Next time you look to paint or recover a former favorite chair remember these paint and slipcovering tips. Redoing a piece of furniture to suit your current tastes and how your home looks now is a fun to-do project and really makes that once tired piece of furniture a favorite once again.

Recycling at its finest ~ always a good thing.

😉

Sharing with

Snickerdoodle Create Make Bake ~ Shoppe No. 5
Inspire Me Monday ~ Create with Joy
Style Showcase ~ Shabbyfufu

Totally Terrific Tuesday ~ Savvy Apron
Inspire Me Tuesday ~ A Stroll Thru Life
Waste Not Wednesday ~ Fairies and Fauna
Friday Features ~ Oh, My Heartsie Girl!
Keep In Touch ~ Let’s Add Sprinkles
Talk of the Town ~ My Repurposed Life
*Feathered Nest Friday ~ French Country Cottage
Courtney’s beautiful book is out this week!
Stop by to check it out then order yours.
🙂

Sew It Cook It Craft It ~ Sew Historically

Friday at the Fire Station ~ A Fireman’s Wife
Saturday Sparks ~ Pieced Pastimes
Edge of the Week ~ Shelby on the Edge

Update:
This post was featured at
Keep In Touch #33 ~ Let’s Add Sprinkles!!!
Thank you, Katie!
😀

Happy decorating,

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Uncategorized

How to Make a French Toile Tablecloth ~ Part 2

March 21, 2018June 21, 2019 French Ethereal

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Last time we left off at shiplap joining the middle seam

between the two halves of this tablecloth and today

we will work on finishing it!

🙂

How to Piece together Toile (cont.)

Once the seam is joined flip the fabric over to the

wrong side and press towards either the right or left.

Here I’ve pressed my seam left {very top of photo}.

*Here’s the link to Part 1.
🙂

Turn right side up and top stitch close to the main seam.

{Shown here on the right side of this photograph.}

Turn wrong side up again and *grade the seam allowance then roll the top piece of fabric underneath.

Press again.

{Lower part of the photo.}

🙂

*Grading a seam allowance takes out the bulk taking the bottom selvage piece

down to 3/8″ and the upper 5/8″ selvage can then wrap around it easily.

This creates nicely finished seams with no frayed edges showing.

Turn the fabric right side up one final time and topstitch

1/4″ from the first topstitching.

{Shown on the left side of the above photograph;

I was doing two things at once in these photos ~

hence why I’m sharing both pics twice.}

Sizing your tablecloth into a square

Take your cloth and lay on a table or on the floor right side up.

Fold the cloth horizontally and matching the sewn seam ~

making the uncut top and bottom pieces meet up

at the shorter lengths.

Here the fabric is folded horizontally matching the vertical seam stacked on top of each other ~
shown on the very left edge of the table above.

Now cut off the extra fabric that extends beyond like the

photograph below:

The extra fabric from the top and bottom are cut away {here folded over ready to cut away}.

Once the extra fabric is removed from the top and bottom

measure the height of the tablecloth.

This gives you your final measurement for what to cut

from the sides of the tablecloth.

You can cut this square two different ways

1) Measure from top to bottom ~ this is the measurement you

will divide and mark for the side seams beginning

horizontally from the center of the seam to each side.

Mark the measurements outward from the seam ~ one set at the

top and one at the bottom of the left and right halves

of the tablecloth.

On mine I measured 31″ on the left side and another 31″

on the right side.

Draw a line from top to bottom on the left and again on

the right sides and cut off this extra fabric.

2) A different and less measuring intensive way to do this

is by folding the fabric on top of a large table or the floor

into a large rectangle.

Do this by first folding horizontally aligning the vertical seam

as before when removing the extra top and bottom fabric.

Finger press the seam as the photograph shows above.

Then fold the fabric left side across to the right side ~ there

will be a little less on the top side with the fold

but then you’ll cut off a little more from the bottom piece

{as shown in the next photograph where the top piece

is lifted up}.

This creates “the square” as you can see in the above

photograph.

Now measure the amount need to cut off on the sides; remove.

This second way is really faster as the large mass of fabric

is in a smaller size and easier to deal with.

The resulting large piece is a nice square without

the hassle of laying out lines and possible mistakes.

🙂

My ruffle inspiration ~ this Shabby Chic tablecloth. I love the ruffles’ seam showing on the outside!

Making a Ruffle

If you’d like to create a ruffle for your French toile de Jouy tablecloth, begin with measuring the area of your “square.”

Mine at 62″ x 62″ square {31″ left and right halves plus the same vertically}:

Area = length x 4 or 62 + 62 + 62 + 62″ = 248″

Yours may be different.

Ruffles are usually 1.5x – 2x the area in length

so this tablecloth’s area doubled would be 496″.

When I went back to the store to buy more fabric there

was only 1.75 yards, so I divided 45″ width into 496″ and

this boiled down to a ruffle width of 5.75″ for each piece.

6 pieces could be cut out of 36″/1 yard of fabric.

I was able to cut 10 widths.

Seam these together at each end, all figures facing the correct

way and making one long piece.

Fold under the top 3/4″ and press along this top edge from

the wrong side of the fabric.

Double turn under the lower edge, press and sew this

bottom seam.

{I chose to do this later. I’m sorry I didn’t take any

photographs at this stage for you! 🙁 }

The ruffle is ready to pin onto the tablecloth edges.

Begin by figuring out how many pieces will fit on a side ~

mine with 10 pieces/4 sides = 2.5 pieces per side.

Pin one edge from the left corner and count the pieces and pin

to the next corner.

Pull the fabric from the very middle of the ruffle and pin

to the middle of this tablecloth edge.

Keep halving the pieces over and over until it is all pinned.

Move to the next side and repeat.

For more detailed photographs click here in the post

I wrote last summer when making our chair covers.

Here you can see the beginning of the pinning.

Sneak peek at an upcoming table setting post…

Sew the seam with the ruffle edge to the outside and pull

pins as you go.

This does take some time but once you get the first seam in

if you want to a second seam can be added like in

the inspiration piece.

And that’s it!

Sharing with

Wow ~ Savvy Southern Style

Feathered Nest Friday

Create Bake Grow and Gather

Until next time,

Tag: sewing projects

How to Make Your Own Valentine Table Linens

Make your own Valentine’s table linens

Sewing instructions

Like this:

Painting and Slipcovering Furniture for an Updated Look

Here’s what you do

Perfect paint

On trend

Like this:

How to Make a French Toile Tablecloth ~ Part 2

How to Piece together Toile (cont.)

Sizing your tablecloth into a square

You can cut this square two different ways

Making a Ruffle

Like this:

Make your own Valentine’s table linens

Sewing instructions

Share this:

Like this:

Here’s what you do

Perfect paint

On trend

Share this:

Like this:

How to Piece together Toile (cont.)

Sizing your tablecloth into a square

You can cut this square two different ways

Making a Ruffle

Share this:

Like this: