What I learnt making a blouse from an old table cloth

/
a floral tablecloth and a blouse made from the tablecloth

Making garments from old tablecloths or bed linen is a big trend at the moment in the sewing world, even appearing as a challenge in the last series of The Great British Sewing Bee TV show. There are so amazing examples, people are sewing really beautiful blouses, dresses and jackets from embroidered linens. It is a wonderful way to make something new and useable, especially when linen with a stain or damage is repurposed in this way. This might not be for everyone but my thoughts are - better to be used and enjoyed than left at the bottom of a drawer or closet.

That said I do have a tablecloth that my grandma embroidered back in the 1980’s. I remember her doing it to use up all her “silks” as she called her basket full of rather tangled embroidery threads. When it was finished it went on her dining table and never came off (apart from the occasional wash I’m sure) she absolutely loved it. I considered using it but on closer inspection it wasn’t really suitable. She was quite elderly when she made it, her stitching was not as on point as it had been, some of it is beautiful and some slightly less beautiful, also it was quite small so would need more fabric added to make anything wearable. So after deciding I am NOT going to be cutting that cloth up to make anything but still wanting to try this trend I scoured our local charity shops and finally found an old tablecloth that I thought would be perfect. It cost me £4 so not a big investment.

a printed floral tablecloth

This cloth is printed to look like embroidery, not actual embroidery but that actually made it much easier to work with, no cutting through stitching and worrying about how to secure it.

After a little deliberation I made myself a blouse using New Look pattern 6871 view A just tweaking the sleeves to make them full length.

 
 

I thought I would share my thought, hints, tips etc that I learnt on this project, in case you are considering hopping on this garment from embroidered linen trend.

Hints and Tips for Sewing Garments from Old Embroidered Tablecloths and Bed Linens

  • Wash your bed or table linen before you begin, it’s always best to start with everything clean and ironed.

  • Check the fabric carefully and mark any stains or tears/holes you need to avoid. I used a nice bright water erasable pen for this. You could cut them out if you prefer, but make sure they are obvious. You really don’t want to find half way through sewing that you have a stain or mark on your garment that you didn’t notice when concentrating on your pattern placement.

stains on an old tablecloth marked so it can be made into a garment

  • Take your time to plan what you are going to make; choose your pattern with care. For example if your tablecloth has quite small areas of useable embroidery or pattern then you might want a pattern with lots of panels or small pieces so you can showcase the embroidery to best effect.

  • If you are on Instagram them consider checking out a few #s to see what other people have made for pattern ideas #tableclothupcycle #tableclothshirt and #embroideredtablecloth all have lots of ideas

  • Pattern placement is REALLY important so think about it before you cut anything. For example I decided to showcase the floral areas of my cloth and avoid the Portuguese Cockerels or Galo de Barcelos. You might not want flowers or a motif in an awkward place right on your boobs - or maybe that’s exactly what you want of course, no judgement here! Either way, think carefully about placement and spend plenty of time playing around with your pattern pieces on the fabric.

  • Consider using the hem of your cloth for the bottom of your garment and sleeves, especially if it’s fancy. It looks good AND saves you work - win win! My cloth had a red edging so I tried to use that where I could. Don’t forget to shorten the front, back and sleeve pattern pieces if you do this though as you won’t be turning the hem.

  • If you are working with a heavily embroidered cloth you also might want to avoid cutting and subsequently sewing through the thickest parts of the embroidery. If cutting the embroidery is unavoidable and you are worried about it unravelling excessively you can secure the edges with a little fray stop but most of the time that will not be necessary.

  • Sue the brilliant Fadanista, made a gorgeous shirt from a embroidered tablecloth recently and had the brilliant idea of extending the embroidery over the side seams where she had cut it. You can read all about Sue’s shirt and the process of making it here: Refebulous 2025 Fadanista.

  • You will need more fabric than you think, I thought my tablecloth was huge - it was 1.50m x 2.50m (60" x 99") but once you start avoiding stains and thinking about your pattern placement you can’t squeeze your garment out of the fabric as you might if it were plain.

  • Because this is sometimes not a very fabric efficient way of making a garment you are likely to have quite a few off cuts and scraps in weird shapes. If any of these are embroidered and pretty you can save them for tiny projects or patchwork. Once my blouse was finished I went though all the scraps and rescued what I could. I have a little heap of pieces ready for some patchwork projects.

My super talented sewing friend Katie aka The Fabric Squirrel has a really informative YouTube video where she talks about how she made 2 beautiful tops from 2 very different tablecloths - you can check it out here: The Fabric Squirrel From Tablecloth to New Top

I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of making a garment from an old tablecloth and I love my pretty new blouse.

blouse made from floral tablecloth

If I were making it again I think I would shorten it a little more. I took about 4 inches from the bottom edge because I was using the edge of the tablecloth and not turning a hem and I wanted it shorter than the pattern but I think it could still be a little more cropped. However I can tuck it in so at least this way I have options.

white woman with long brown hair wearing a floral blouse made from an old embroidered tablecloth and red trousers

I prioritised using the red edging of the cloth for the bottom hem and this did mean I had to compromise on the pattern placement on the centre of the blouse on the front and back. I had to choose between a floral design in the centre OR the red edging IF I wanted to avoid the cockerels. That is the challenge of making a garment from a tablecloth; compromises will have to be made, but that’s ok, it’s part of the fun of it.

Have you tried making a garment from old embroidered bed or table linen? How did you get on? Any hints or tips you’d like to add?

Julie

I’ll be sharing this at some of these link ups