The experts always recommend layers when dressing for winter; we felt this advice should extend to winter table top dressing as well. Our holiday tablecloth is actually two layers: a plain fringed underlay and a patterned flat overlay with pretty dangling pom-poms as corner accents. With the underlay made out of a neutral fabric in a simple fringed design, you can reuse it with a new overlay for a new season or holiday.

Our thanks to our friends at Moda Fabrics for providing all the French General Lumiere de Noel fabric. You can find the gorgeous Lumiere de Noel fabric in stores and online now, including at Fat Quarter Shop.

Our instructions and yardage are for a 97" x 40" table. We've given you measurements for how we cut our pieces to fit our table. Adjust as needed for your table.

Sewing Tools You Need

• Any Sewing Machine (we recommend the Janome 2160DC)

Fabric and Other Supplies

• 2¾ yards of 44-45" wide fabric for overlay: we used Lumiere de Noel by French General for Moda Fabrics in Floral Christmas Hollyvine Natural
• 3 yards of 52" wide fabric for underlay: we used a rayon/linen blend from Fabric.com: Brussels Washer Linen Blend in White
• EIGHT approximately 2½" pom-poms: we used a soft white
  NOTE: We made our own using a
• All purpose thread: we used deep red
• See-through ruler or yardstick
• Fabric pen, pencil or chalk
• Iron and ironing board
• Scissors or rotary cutter and mat
• Straight pins

Getting Started

1. The underlay is designed to have a 4" drop all around, so you need a piece of fabric that is the size of your table plus 8". For our 97" x 40" table that meant a piece 105" x 48".
2. The overlay is designed to sit flat on the table top with an approximate 1" reveal of the underlay showing all around. Subtract 2" from both measurements (1" for each side) to get your finished size. For our table that final measurement should be 95" x 38". We use a 3/4" double turn hem to finish the underlay. Therefore, you need to add back 1½" to all sides to account for the hem or 3" total to both the finished width and length. In our sample, that means 95" + 3" x 38" + 3" = 98" x 41".
3. From the fabric for your underlay (linen in our sample), figure your dimensions and cut cut ONE rectangle. We cut one rectangle 105" x 48". Because we are fringing the underlay, cut on-grain and keep all your edges as straight and true as possible.
4. From the fabric for your overlay (Floral Christmas Hollyvine in our sample), figure your dimensions and cut ONE rectangle. We cut one rectangle 98" x 41".

Pom-poms

1. We made our fluffy pom-poms, using the Clover Pom-Pom Maker. You can do this too with help from our easy, step-by-step tutorial. Or... you can buy some big pom-poms.
2. We used a straight pom hanger for this project. On some of our other Noel Home projects, such as our Stockings and Chair Covers, we used a fancy little twisted cord technique for the pom hangers. This would certainly work for this project as well. If you are a knitter, you'll recognize this easy technique right away. If not, there are lots of instructions online, including this video from Knitting at KNoon.
3. For each of our pom-pom pairs, we made one pom hanger approximately 8" and the other approximately 6".

At Your Sewing Machine & Ironing Board

Fringing the underlay

1. Pull a single thread from one edge. To start the thread, you can use a pin to pick out the fiber until you have enough to grab and pull. Pull gently.
   
2. Keep pulling one thread at a time until you have about 3/4" of fringe.
3. Repeat the process to fringe all the edges. It's a bit painstaking, but I like to think of it as patience-therapy. Breath, pull, breath, pull...
   
4. Once you've fringed all four sides, double-check and trim as needed to even up all the edges to a consistent length of 3/4".
5. Stitch along the edge of the fringe all the way around to secure and prevent further raveling.
   
6. Press well.

Creating the overlay

1. Because we have the underlay, this overlay does not need a lining, just a simple hem.
2. To create a simple hem, fold under each edge ¾" and press. Fold under an additional ¾" and press again and pin.
   NOTE: We made neat mitered corners, using our favorite tutorial on .
3. Place a pair of pom-poms (one 8" and one 6") at each corner. To do this, unfold your double-turned hem to a single-turned hem, line up the pom-pom tails (each pom has two tails), and slide them into the hem.
   
4. Slide one pom on one side of the corner and one pom on the other side so the tails criss-cross each other at a right angle. Refold the hem to cover the ends. Pin in place.
   
5. Topstitch close to the folded edge all around tablecloth hem, making sure to backtack over each of the pom-pom tails, to insure they are stitched tightly in place.
   
   

Contributors

Project Concept: Alicia Thommas

Sample Creation: Gregory Dickson

Other machines suitable for this project include the Elna Sew Fun and the Pfaff 1122.