How to Cinch Up a Tablecloth

Use heavy clips to hold down your picnic cloth on a windy day.

Cinching up a tablecloth with soft gathers serves three purposes. First, it makes a long table cloth shorter. Second, it gives the tablecloth a graceful scalloped edge. Third, it gives the cloth a bit more shape and weight to keep it in place in the wind. It also provides a lovely background for festive decorations such as buttons or silk flowers. You may hand-sew the gathers on the edge of the tablecloth, or cinch up the cloth with clips.

Things You'll Need

• Tablecloth
• Yardstick
• Straight pins
• Needle (optional)
• Thread (optional)
• Decorations such as silk flowers or buttons (optional)
• Safety pins (optional)
• Tablecloth clips, hair clips or clothespins (optional)
• Hot glue (optional)

Instructions

Cinch by Hand Sewing

1. Place your tablecloth on the table, and measure up to the point you would like the bottom of the cloth to be. Place a straight pin 3 inches above this point. Place another pin in the hem of the cloth directly below the first one. These pins mark the places where the cloth will be cinched. The cloth will hang down longer in between.

2. Place pins at the same height every 6 inches around the cloth. Adjust the pins so they are evenly spaced around the cloth, moving them slightly closer together or farther apart. They do not have to be perfectly spaced.

3. Thread a needle with 24 inches of thread, and knot the ends together.

4. Sew a straight line from a pin in the hem to the pin directly above it, making 3/8-inch stitches. Remove the pins.

5. Pull the thread to gather the fabric. Knot the thread to hold the gathers in place.

6. Cinch up the fabric between each set of pins in the same way.

7. Pin silk flowers or buttons over each gathered seam with safety pins, if desired.

Cinch with a Clip

1. Mark the locations of the gathers with straight pins as described in the previous section.

2. Hot glue decorations to the front of tablecloth clips, large hair clips or clothespins.

3. Use the clips to gather the hem of the fabric between the pins. Remove the pins.

Tips & Warnings

• Match your decorations to your centerpiece.

• If you choose, you may leave the clips plain.

• The bottom of the cloth may not be at the exact point you desired. The depth of the scallops will depend on the material of the cloth, the amount the cloth is shortened and how tightly it is gathered.