For the love of oilcloth

Claire July 29th, 2009

I seem to have found a new obsession recently – a strange one at that, but people who have been reading this blog for a while now probably won’t be surprised at all by that!

Being a magpie at heart I have always loved shiny things. When I was a goth (back in the day) my love of shiny things translated into several PVC skirts and bustiers for clubbing in – don’t ask! And yes, you do get sweaty! Now, I needed something to help with my “manky table” problem. When we were moving into this house we were really lucky to be gifted a pine dining room table and 4 chairs via Freecycle. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth we accepted and have giventhe table 18 months of hard use – David has a folding games table that sits on top so he and his mates can play with his tiny fighting men of an evening, I have sat and sewn and painted and cut things out on it. Occasionally we have been known to eat at it too. But it’s looking tired, and orange, and I don’t deal well with orange pine. Rather than paint it (I’d like cream, just like my pretty dresser) or stain it (David would like it dark brown, like the floorboards) I thought that an oilcloth cover and some slipcovers for the chairs would be enough to tart it up for the time being.

I’d seen an advert for UK mexican oilcloth sellers Viva La Frida in a sewing magazine and had a look on their website, and was instantly smitten. First of all I ordered 2 craft packs

- which you can see here, basically cos I didn’t know how big my table was (ordering at work on my lunch time!) and then a couple of days later I ordered this gorgeous turquoise rose print, which I adore.

Even David thinks it looks good (which I was a tad surprised at). The craft pack pieces are large enough to make tote bags and make up bags from, so I think I will make some of those up, and maybe some cushions for taking into the garden should we ever get any dry weather this summer in the UK. I am now wondering what else I can cover in these bright, crazy flowery fabrics. I have also started digging out the other bits of oilcloth I have stashed away, which is a surprising amount really. Though to be fair they’re not as nice as these ones…

As an aside, if you wonder what the best way to sew oilcloth is, get a walking foot for your machine – they’re great and don’t stick to the fabric. Saves hours of swearing and frustration!

I can feel a bit of a show and tell coming on with all my oilcloth projects! xoxo

Tags: fabric, home, oilcloth, sewing

• sewing and crafting
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