Geometry Meets a Wedding!

  Have you ever heard your kids ask, "When will I ever use this in my real life anyway?", when it comes to school subjects?  Well, tell them to get busy and practice their geometry because you never know when you are going to need to remember those equations!
     It all began with this fabric that I purchased as the overlay tablecloths for Lindsey's wedding reception.  (Once again I went to SAS!)

Problem #1:  Size to cut the fabric:
  This is 12 yards of chocolate brown chiffon.  It was $2.99 per yard at SAS.  It is 59" wide.  So, here was my dilemma, did I need to add to the width of the fabric? The tables are 60" in diameter.  I wanted an overhang at the corners.  Did I need to add to the length or should I make it a 59 x 59 " square? How long would the over hang be?
     Well, between my son (a senior in HS who is starting AP Calculus this year), and my daughter (who took AP Calculus while in HS), we came up with what we hope are the right calculations that will make these tablecloths look great.  Actually, I shouldn't say "we", but "they".  I did remember some geometry formulas, but not necessarily the ones I needed.  Here is the work as Madalynn recorded it: 

   Frankly, it didn't even occur to me to draw the square of the fabric over the tip of the circle of the table, so I am really glad that my kids were here.  
    The final outcome was that if I cut the fabric into 59" squares, I would have an almost 12" overhang.  I decided that would be acceptable so that is what I did.  

     Trick #2:  Cutting the fabric evenly
 I measured down the fabric 59" and made a snip.  Then I realized that cutting this slippery fabric was going to be tricky.  I called Madalynn once again for help.  She sat at the opposite side of the table and measured and snipped at that side.  The cutting was still going to be a problem.  I don't have a large enough self healing mat to use my rotary cutter.  Then I realized that at the fabric store, they ripped the fabric.  So, I tried it! And do you know that it ripped from my snip to Madalynn's snip almost perfectly! Problem solved.
     

 Problem #3:  Fraying edges
    This chiffon fabric really frays.  Plus, it is so silky and fine that I worried that it would get chewed up in my sewing machine if I tried to hem it regularly.  Or, there would be puckering.  So, what I had seen done on this kind of fabric was melting the edges to stop the fraying and to keep the edges light.  So, I called my friend Diane and got some advice from her.  She suggested various methods.  I had already tested the fabric and I knew that it would melt rather than just catch fire and burn my house down.  So, the method I decided to use was a large, stable candle.  I started with a large pillar, but the wick was too short and I kept smothering it out.  I then switched to a large jar candle with a long wick.  The slippery glass worked great to slide the fabric across quickly as I melted the edge.

This is the first candle I started with.

Then I switched to the large jar candle. See how I am sliding the fabric over the tip just melting the edges? It goes pretty fast.

Try to be quick and even. I had a few mishaps with over melting. I am not going to worry about it.

Mostly, it looks pretty good.

    So, problem solved and one more task completed towards the wedding! I think these will look great with the turquoise centerpieces!  Stay tuned for more projects!