Crochet Tablecloth Waistcoat with Draped Front – DIY

A quick fun project with a really rewarding outcome – DIY instructions to convert a circular charity-shop-find tablecloth into a trendy draped-front waistcoat.

Rectangular crochet tablecloths are great for reusing as throws or bed covers, but circular ones are a little more difficult to re-purpose. The design of this draped front waistcoat fits so well into the round.
This is an ideal project for a tablecloth with signs of wear and tear.  The damaged or unravelled section can be positioned in the cutout area.
Every tablecloth will be different and will need a little bit of individualised treatment.

Crochet Tablecloth Waistcoat

Lay the tablecloth on the floor and fold the edges in, so that you can start to get an idea of what your waistcoat will look like.

Work out where you would like the shoulder seams to fall.  Mark the shoulder seam position.  Pin and then cut out above the shoulder seam.  Do not cut beyond the shoulder seam.  Open the centre fronts out and continue cutting along the back neck edge only.  Do not keep on cutting on the front pieces, as they are going to form a shawl collar.
Once the neck edge is cut, cut the shawl collar piece.

 

 

Join the centre back pieces of the collar by handstitching together.  Oversew all seams securely, catching in any loose threads that may unravel. Make sure that the right side of the seam is uppermost on the collar, so that it looks neat.

Securely handstitch the neck edge of the shawl collar to the neck edge of the waistcoat.

Lay the waistcoat flat, and mark the position of the armhole slits on either side. Finish off the armhole slits by rolling a hem all round the edge as best you can, and securely handstitching in place.
All the best. Enjoy wearing your handiwork 

How to Diagram 

A comprehensive diagram on how to convert a tablecloth into a waistcoat (as well as the full instructions from this post) available to dowload as a PDF file here