Oil Cloth? What's an Oil Cloth?
Yeah, I asked pretty much the same question when our very nice UPS man delivered two rolls of very pretty, but very unusual fabric to Sew Inspired a few days ago. The answer? It was oil cloth!
Oil cloth has been around for EVER. Well, maybe not since forever, but at least for a very long time. But, it's recently coming back into vogue. My question was then, after inspecting it, how it ever went OUT of vogue. Let me explain. Oil cloth is regular woven cotton quilting fabric that is coated with polyurethane, which makes the fabric waterproof and wipeable. So really, what's not to love? Off the top of my head, I can think of at least nine things that this would be good for. Let's count them off shall we?
- Market bags
- Cosmetic bags
- Splat mats for under children's high-chairs
- Splat mats for under dog/cat dishes
- Splat mats for under teenage boy's dishes (okay, splat mats for under anything really!)
- Travel changing pads for diaper bags
- Baby bibs
- Tablecloths
- Book covers
The fabric is quite easy to work with, but here are a few tips, just in case:
- Do NOT put a hot iron directly onto the oiled side of the oil cloth. It WILL melt the polyurethane. Instead, put the cloth oiled side down, cover with a pressing cloth, and press with a hot, dry iron.
- Pins will leave small holes in the fabric, so pin inside of seam allowances whenever possible.
- Use a walking foot when sewing to keep the two layers of fabric from shifting
- Lenghten your stitch length to minimize the number of needle pricks in the fabric.
- Best of all, in my opinion, is that oil cloth WILL NOT FRAY - so if you want a really quick, casual tablecloth, just cut the fabric to size and throw it on the table. Easy peasy lemon squeezey.
We have two rolls of oilcloth in the shop, and we're so excited we can barely contain ourselves. We should have some sample projects made with it in the next few days, so please stop by and check it out. Then you can be back in vogue along with us!