The tablecloth was a success and I'll try to get a photo in the next few days.
I figured out how to do this as I went along. Here's what I did:
1. I did some research and learned that the basic round tablecloth is 70 inches in diameter, so that gave me a place to start.
2. Since the fabric I chose was only 44-45 inches wide, I bought 4 yards. I cut the length in half, making two lengths of two yards (72 inches) each.
3. I folded one length in half with selvedge edges together and cut a strip 15 inches wide, measured from the selvedge edges. This left a wide strip in the middle to use for placemats, napkins, or whatever.
4. I joined each narrow strip to the wide piece of fabric along the selvedge edges, so that there would be finished edges on the wrong side of the cloth. I ended up with a large piece of fabric about 72 inches by 72 inches.
5. I carefully folded the large square in quarters, ending up with a square about 36 inches by 36 inches.
6. I used a yardstick as a makeshift compass. Carefully holding one end of the yardstick at the folded point of the fabric, I made marks 35 inches from the center point, carefully sliding the yardstick around the center point just an inch or two at a time. (Note: If you have short arms, you might ask a taller friend for help doing this.)
7. When I had worked my way from one side of the square to the other, I joined the markings, smoothing out the curves and remeasuring and remarking anything that didn't look quite right.
8. When I was happy with the curve, I carefully cut through all four layers. Et voila -- when I unfolded the cloth, I had a circle.
9. I made a row of machine stitching around the edge of the circle, keeping the edge of my presser foot aligned with the edge of my fabric. This will leave finished edge beneath the braid. (This was just about 3/8 of an inch, and my braid was 3/8 of an inch wide.) The main thing at this stage is to take it slow and pay attention to handling all that fabric, so that you don't end up stitching something together by mistake.
10. To apply the braid, I turned up and finger-pressed the "hem" along the stitching line, so that the right sides of the fabric would be together. I laid the braid on top of the folded fabric and held everything together with my fingers. I placed the row of stitching close to the top edge of the braid. I was sewing the braid over the wrong side/raw edge of the "hem."
11. At this stage it was necessary to go slowly, and work just a few inches at a time. Since you're sewing around a curve, you have to reposition the fabric every few inches so that the fabric will feed properly. You also have to keep all the fabric except the few inches you're working on out of the way (to the left). And I found it helpful to drape the braid around my neck from left to right so that I could feed it with my right hand.
12. When I was within a couple of inches of where I started applying the braid, I cut the remaining end so that there would be about 2 or 3 inches of overlap. I folded the raw end under, and made a nice finish where the braid joined.
13. I made another row of stitching close to the bottom edge of the braid/cloth. Since the braid was already in place, this went MUCH faster.
14. There were two or three places where the raw edges of the "hem" showed above the edge of the braid. With my little scissors, I VERY carefully trimmed as much as I could. You don't want to cut a hole in the cloth at the stage of the game!
If I had bought the right amount of braid (remember: 6 1/2 to 7 yards for a 70 inch cloth), I could have knocked this out in an afternoon or evening.
Go for it!
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