Not Your Grandma's Tablecloth

I have a confession. The only time I put a tablecloth on the table is during the holidays. Specifically Christmas. The tablecloth is this super fancy white one that looks like it should be made into a beautiful vintage dress. What it should not be is a sitting duck just waiting for me to spill spaghetti sauce or chocolate ice cream onto it.

It's not that I don't want tablecloths. I like them enough, I just haven't found one that is very... me. The ones I like cost more than $50. Why would I spend that much on something that is going to end up the inevitable victim of my klutzy nature? The alternative, of course, is a tablecloth that is either made of oilcloth { sorry, but my kitchen doesn't house a picnic table } or something that looks like it belongs in the home of an old lady with 7 cats. Sigh.

When I think about getting myself some fabric and sewing up a handy dandy table sweater, I am instantly drawn to damask fabric.

Then I go back and forth on whether that will overwhelm my kitchen. Plus, I have damask curtains in my living room { homemade from a clearance tablecloth that I had to have even though it was too small } and I don't want the place to be too matchy-matchy. Ugh, why am I a tablecloth malcontent?

In other news, I want to make these:

                                                                                      or you can buy them here