The Fab Floor Cloth

One of the most frequent questions we get is about our floor cloths.  We think they are a unique and fun way to display and use special fabrics.  Debbie makes a new one every year for the MN Shop Hop.  We keep it on the floor right in front of our cash register counter, a place that gets lots of traffic.  It gets walked on all the time, and lasts through wet shoes, sandy shoes, slushy shoes and salty shoes.

We've shared the instructions on this blog before so I will reprint them here.  We also hand out those instructions to anyone in the store who is interested.  You can make your own floor cloth to the size that you want, from big all the way down to coaster size!  The multi-purpose cloth (by Roclon) that is the foundation for our floor cloths is 54" wide. That would be the max width of a floor cloth but the length could be longer than that because we buy it on a roll and sell it by the yard.

If you are planning to make your own floor cloth, the usual size container of Mod Podge is not enough.  You are better off to watch for it on sale at a craft store and buy the big container.

Mod Podge Floor Cloth

Supplies:

 Mod Podge   
Fine grit sandpaper or steel wool    
Multi Purpose Cloth    
Fabric for the front and back

   Foam Brush   

Plastic Drop Cloth to protect work surface

Directions:

1.  Cut the main fabric and the backing one inch larger than the desired finished size of the floor cloth.

2.  Cut the Multi Purpose Cloth to the desired finished size.

3.  Apply Mod Podge to one side of the Multi Purpose Cloth. 

Immediately attach backing fabric to the Mod Podged surface, smoothing out wrinkles and bubbles.

4.  Apply Mod Podge to the backing fabric.  Let dry 1-2 hours.

5.  Trim backing fabric even with the Multi Purpose Cloth. Use your rotary cutter for an even trim.

6.  Turn the floor cloth over and apply Mod Podge to the other side of the floor cloth.  Center the main fabric on the floor cloth so that you will have fabric to wrap to the wrong side of the cloth.  Smooth out wrinkles and bubbles. Let dry.

7.  Sand lightly with steel wool or fine grit sand paper, if desired.

8.  Repeat so that you have 4-5 layers of Mod Podge on the front and 3-4 layers on the back, sanding between coats.

9.  Wrap excess front fabric to the back side and apply Mod Podge under the fabric to hold it to the floor cloth and over the fabric so that it will also be finished.  If desired, Mod Podge one inch strips of fabric  to cover the raw edges of the wrap around fabric for a more finished look.

10.  Apply Mod Podge to the back side one more time.

You can get as creative as you want with fabrics in assorted colors, shapes and sizes.  You can make it look like quilt blocks, or a collage, or a Van Gogh!