How to Make Weights for a Beaded Tablecloth

Tie your decorations together by using matching beads in your centerpiece as well.

Table weights keep your tablecloth from blowing in the wind when you entertain outdoors. They should be removed for laundering, especially if they're attached to a beaded tablecloth, where they can become entangled with the beading and cause damage. You can use alligator clips or safety pins to attach the weights, but a prettier alternative is to use buttons and buttonholes. Button-on tablecloth weights can be attached from the inside so the buttons show or from the outside so they don't.

Things You'll Need

• Beaded tablecloth
• Sewing machine with button hole attachment
• Matching thread
• Craft scissors
• Fishing line
• 1/2-inch beads
• Small beads
• Glue gun and glue sticks
• 1-inch buttons, 4

Instructions

1. Make a 1-inch buttonhole in each corner of the tablecloth. Position each hole with one end pointing toward the corner, 1 inch from the edge.

2. Cut a 16-inch piece of fishing line. Tie a small knot at one end of the line. Leave 1/4 inch of line sticking out of the knot so it doesn't come undone. Secure the knot with a bit of hot glue.

3. String a 1/2-inch bead onto the line. Add more beads until you are pleased with the design. The strand of beads should be 2 to 3 inches long. You may secure the beads with a knot at the other end, but it isn't necessary.

4. Tie a button on the line 1 inch away from the end of the strand of beads. Secure the button with a bit of hot glue. Trim the end of the line 1/4 inch away from the button. Button the weight onto one corner of the tablecloth.

5. Make three more weights in this way, and button them onto the corners of the tablecloth.

Tips & Warnings

• On a round tablecloth, use eight weights evenly spaced along the edge. Make the buttonholes perpendicular to the edge.

• Cutting fishing line will dull your scissors. Use craft scissors for this, not your good sewing scissors.