How to Make a Boat Tablecloth & Placemats

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If you spend a lot of time on your boat, either during the season or year round, you want your boat's cabin to feel like home. A small way to soften the look of your cabin's salon is to add a tablecloth to the main table. We designed a tablecloth that looks sleek and is functional even when underway. We're going to show you how to make your own tablecloth for your boat, with a bonus quick tutorial for making placemats that are perfect for use on your boat or even your patio.
Video Chapters:
  • Measuring & Patterning – 0:22 min.
  • Sewing Boxing Together – 2:10 min.
  • Joining Boxing to Top Plate – 5:01 min.
  • Hemming the Edge – 8:12 min.
  • Making Placemats – 9:04 min.
  • Materials List – 10:09 min.
Materials List:
  • Naugahyde® Universal Cream 54" Vinyl Fabric – #100603
  • Tex 90 (V-92) White UV Bonded Polyester Thread 4 oz. – #100079
  • Phifertex® Plus Vinyl Mesh Madras Tweed Putty 54" Fabric – #3040724
Tools List:
  • Deluxe 5-1/2" Magnetic Sewing Guide – #103597
  • Sailrite® Edge Hotknife Package – #103800
  • Sailrite® Ultrafeed® LS Walking Foot Sewing Machine – #311502
  • Tape Measure, Marker, Yardstick, Scissors
How to Make a Boat Tablecloth Placemats Video 2

This boat tablecloth is a little different from a traditional tablecloth that would be used inside a home. We wanted our tablecloth to not slide around as the boat moves, so we made it to fit snug to the table and wrapped its edges over the table’s sides. We chose to use a Naugahyde® Universal fabric so the tacky texture of the vinyl will help keep items on the tabletop in place better when underway.

Our table on the Islander 37 is mounted to the bulkhead with hinges, so we accommodated for that in our design. If your table is free on all four sides, create the fourth side in the same manner as the three shown in the video.

For the placemats, we used a sling fabric. Sailrite carries Phifertex® and Textilene® mesh sling fabrics, which would both work well. These simple no-sew placemats can be made just by cutting out a shape from the mesh and running a hotknife along the edges to seal them.

Would you use a tablecloth in your boat? Tell us what you think of this project in the comments!