Just before Easter, I scored my best thrifted item to date.
Enter the cross stitched table cloth.
In all seriousness, how could anyone part with it? Stitched entirely by hand and in mint condition…oh well, one person’s trash is my treasure.
Refashioned into a cushion for a little girl who will soon celebrate her birthday.
Framed in pink dots and finished off with a linen border, it measures 19″ square.
{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh so sweet! It’s a great thing to treasure all things handmade; love your upcycled cushion.
What a great blend of natural fibres. How big is the table cloth? Would it make a cute little girls dress too?
It is probably about one meter by one meter…a dress would be sweet but I couldn’t bear it to be thrashed at the park ;)
Oh Kate I adore that, its beautiful. xo
Brilliantly beautiful – fondly – Lurlineā„
Such a beautiful gift. The textures and colors go so well together.
Beautiful! So nice to make something new from an old treasure.
It looks gorgeous! This is seriously opportune. My Gran died last year and I was given a tablecloth and napkins from 1940 that was used nearly every night at dinner. I’ll make myself a quilt out of a napkin and pieces of the tablecloth, and I’ll make my cousins a cushion like yours out of the remaining napkins, (6 napkins, 6 grandkids….. works out perfectly!) Thanks for the inspiration!
What a beautiful gift you will be giving x
Kate, what a treasure. As an avid thrifter I can only imagine your excitment at finding it.
Adele, I too was just given an embroided linen table cloth by my ninety year old grandmother, which she says is older than she is. It is a little torn and stained, but I can’t seem to bear to cut it up.
I was VERY excited when I spotted it!
Lucky find!! :D Love the pillow.
Ahh! That pillow is so pretty. I love it. Right you are – one man’s trash is another man’s treasure! What a great use for it.
I am continuously amazed at the things that people throw away!
I am in love with your cushion..it’s so gorgeous and a great use of your cloth.
opps – continually
I have an old Holiday tablecloth by grandmother embroidered that is stained and I haven’t been able to throw away now I am going to make Christmas pillows out of them!!
What a score!
I can imagine the cross stitcher is looking down from the clouds and smiling at your gorgeous work.
That is gorgeous! Great idea!
it is beautiful! you are right. an absolute treasure. i need to go thrifting a lot more often!
Love it Kate! great minds think alike, I am seriously working on the same idea at the moment with a tapestry cushion I bought last week. I love the table cloth but you will get so much more use out of it with the cushion. I’m interested to know what you paid for it???? I found one last week, hand stitched on linen but for $30 I left it there. Vinnies is getting so expensive here.
Oh my gosh! I scored this for $5!
My mum had a very similar cross stitched table, it was her favourite, she lent it to a friend who never gave it back… needless to say they are no longer friends. I like what you’ve done with yours. I should get some linen for my stash.
That is indeed a score and a half! Looks to be in great shape too. And you’ve done it justice framing it in such a lovely way.
Love it but what about the rest? That was surely only one quarter of the cloth. Particularly love the different textures especially the linen border. Well upcycled!
Saving the rest for future projects.
x
Very nice Kate great choice of fabric to mix with this vintage piece.
Lynn
What a great way to repurpose a lovely item! It looks great! Thanks for sharing your idea.
I cannot believe that this was ever anyone’s trash! It’s beautiful!!
Love what you’ve done with that. It was a beautiful thing to begin with, but now you’ve given it a modern twist and a whole new lease of life, -inspirational! x
total score! & that’s one beautiful cushion! Great upcycling :)
x
Kate, I love it! Such a fun way to upcycle, it is beautiful. Love the DS and linen with the xstitch.
Wow this brought back memories – my gran used to cross stitch table cloths. Oh so lovely. Your cushion is perfect.
Oh my, oh my! That cross stitch table cloth was yearning to be recreated into a pillow. The textures and colours you have paired with it are so perfect. Thank you for the inspiration. I was feeling a little limp this evening but my mind is happily full of colour and pattern now. Thanks again.
that is so beautiful Kate, what a lucky little girl
so good to see you’re back on the machine
xxx
You won’t believe this, but I have the same tablecloth. Hand stitched by my elderly neighbour from about 7yrs ago. Perhaps it was a popular pattern? I love what you’ve done with it! x
stunning
That is just lovely. I will search diligently for just such a find from now on.
I have just been wondering how handmade goodness ends up in thrift stores on my own blog (http://furrybees.blogspot.com/2011/06/handmade-part-three.html). Am glad to see this tablecloth’s story continues in such a funky way!
eep…it’s so cute.
in mint condition and you cut it up! not that the cushion isn’t pretty… but i could never bring myself to cut up a find that good!
Each to their own ;)
Beautiful! I have a cross-stitched set my grandmother made 25 years ago that is stained and hasn’t been used on a table in a decade…i think it’s time to pull it out and start recycling it!
Hi Kate..you are an inspiration. ages ago my MIL went to Greece and came back with a complete set of similar tableclothes – one for herself, one for my SIL and one set for me.
Over the years I have used them and they wash beautifully, but now they lay hidden in the back of the linen cupboard. After seeing your lovely cushion the ideas are now buzzin around in my head with heaps of possiblities for what they can be made into and loved once more….so girls…no need to look far – check out your linen closets…I am sure you will find lots of treasures lurking there….hugs LIndaB