Hi! Mandi here! White cotton tablecloths are easy to find in stores, and sometimes you can even find one for just a couple of dollars at a thrift shop. But when you want a tablecloth with a little more personality, your options are pretty limited. I decided to make my own party tablecloth using a plain white tablecloth and a whole lot of color. Check out how I did it below!
Supplies:
-white cotton tablecloth (cotton dyes the best)
-fabric dye (I used a combination of these colors to achieve chartreuse yellow)
-salt (amount depends on fabric yardage)
-dye fixative
-acrylic paint
-acrylic paint textile medium
-round foam dabber
-plastic gloves (not shown)
Step One: Soak your cotton tablecloth in hot water, then remove from the washing machine (or large basin) and wring out the dripping water.
Step Two: Fill a washing machine or large basin with enough hot water to completely cover the tablecloth. Add the dye you wish to use plus the amount of salt called for on the dye packaging. I used one pack of salt with two packs of yellow (one golden and one lemon yellow) plus a little shake of green dye to achieve this color. The more dye you use, the more vivid the color will be. Stir to dissolve the dye.
Make sure your fabric isn't folded when you return it to the water. Follow the dye package instructions for soak time. I let mine sit in there for about a half hour, stirring with a gloved hand every now and then, before letting the machine agitate and run through a normal cycle.
Step Three: Remove the dyed fabric from the empty washing machine, and fill the machine with hot water and dye fixative. Put the tablecloth back into the machine and allow it to go through a normal cycle.
Step Four: Combine two parts of acrylic paint to one part of textile medium to make it safe for washable fabrics.
Step Five: I used a round foam dabber to create a dotted pattern across the length of my tablecloth, but you can use any foam shape or stencil you like to create your pattern.
I haven't washed my tablecloth since painting it, but I did run the dyed cloth through the normal wash after using the fixative, and the color stayed fast. Just to be safe, when you wash a newly dyed fabric, make sure to not use hot water and to wash it with like colors. Nylon fabric likes to soak up any stray dye, so if you have nylon clothing that needs cleaned, I wouldn't throw it in with your freshly dyed tablecloth.
This tablecloth is perfectly party-ready now, and in fact, it's still sitting on my dining room table because it's so festive—I don't want the polka-dotted fun to end! -Mandi
Credits // Author and Photography: Mandi Johnson. Photos edited with Spring of the Signature Collection.
this is so adorable! i’m also planning to make diys, thanks for inspiring me 🙂 i followed you on bloglovin’ since i’m a really new blogger, feel free to follow back
xx
vanillant.blogspot.com
I’ve been doing a lot of painting DIYS these days so this sounds like another one I’d like to try! Thanks for sharing!
http://everydayingrace.blogspot.ca/
Super cute! I’m looking for something new for our picnic table. Might have to do some DIY with my little.
Love this idea! I am so going to have to try this.
So simple and pretty! Finding cute and inexpensive patterned tablecloths is awfully hard. This is a great solution!
-Emily
http://www.emilyorzel.com/blog
Like this for and old dress!
This is so cute! I love the polka dots.
Mana
http://www.fashionandhappythings.com
this is SO simple and cute!
xxoo,
nikki
www.dreaminneon.blogspot.com
I had a pretty similar idea, but I tried to dye on the polka dots…didn’t work so well. I have plans to try it again with painted polka dots.
xoxo
Taylor
Polka dots are so fun! I love dying fabric to create a completely custom look!
Great idea! I love making something simple prettier and my own design.
This tablecloth reminds me of a character or something from a kid’s book… I can’t place it, but it looks so familiar!
Very cute—but can we talk about the cake?!
love this idea…i always wanted to try my hand at dying…this looks simple..
xo
Love this idea!
I love this, because I have some kind of oldish white tablecloths that are stained. This would cover them up nicely!
Jo
http://www.womaninreallife.com/
What a fab idea! I love this!
The Sunday Chapter
xxx
Ohh I love this! I’ve been wanting to make my own table cloth for so long. Thank you!
Thank you so much for posting this!!! 😀 It would be darling to do other shapes (other than just dots, like hearts, stars, whatever). 🙂 Fun project!
I hope you have a beautiful day!!! <3
xoxo,
the bbb blogger
this is awesome and pretty simple too! I should totally do this for my outdoor table it would be great for our sunday family bbq’s thanks for the awesome diy! xx. gigi. www.gigikkitchen.com
Cute!!!! Fabric paint works really well too! I just stamped a tote using fabric paint http://hotforhouses.com/2014/06/25/diy-potato-stamped-pineapple-tote and it turned out great!