My husband and I designed a simple DIY skirting table together. It is just the right size to skirt any alpaca blanket or wool fleece, and it easily breaks down to store completely out of the way. It uses two sawhorses as stands so if you already have some available to you, you are half way to a finished skirting table! Keep reading if you want to know how to build a simple skirting table of your own!

In this video, you can watch how the table unrolls and sets up. I also got to skirt my first fleece on my new collapsible DIY skirting table and I’ll show you how in this video.

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*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the link, I may receive a commission at no added cost to you.

My First PVC Skirting Table

My first skirting table was made from PVC pipe with a piece of plastic mesh fencing attached to the top. It worked well, but it was difficult to store. We glued the PVC pieces together so the top was always in the shape of a large rectangle. I also didn’t like using the plastic mesh top. After one fleece, it got greasy with lanolin and vegetable matter seemed to stick everywhere. I wanted something simple that I could break down easily and store out of the way.

My New Collapsible Skirting Table

My new table is build to unfold over two sawhorses. This is great because the sawhorses are useful for lots of projects, not just skirting fleeces. The top portion of this simple skirting table rolls up and can be tucked away into practically any storage space with ease.

Materials

• (2) Sawhorses
• (2) 1″ x 2″ Pine Boards 6′ length
• (2) 2″ x 4″ Pine Boards 4′ length
• (4) 1/4″ x 3″ Zinc carriage bolts
• (4) wing nuts to fit carriage bolts
• (1) Piece galvanized poultry netting 4′ wide ~6″ length (you may have to get a whole roll or ask a friend with chickens if they have any leftover pieces)
• (8) screws to attach the boards to the sawhorses
• (1) bungee cord to keep the netting rolled up for storage
• (1) zippered pouch to store the hardware
• Optional (4) screws with washers

Some sawhorses, like those pictured above are set up to hold two parallel boards. (Click the picture for more details – affiliate link). If you have these available to you, skip ahead to step 4 of the instructions, you are almost finished!

Tools

• Drill
• Staple gun with staples
• Needle nose pliers (optional)
• Sand paper – if you have any rough edges
• Saw – if your boards don’t come already cut to size

Instructions

1. Attach the two pine boards that are 4″ long to the tops of the sawhorses.

2. Drill holes large enough to fit the carriage bolts into the ends of the 4′ boards attached to the saw horses, and the ends of the 6′ boards.

3. You can now create the frame of the table by joining the boards together at the corners with the carriage bolts. Hold them together with a wing nut on the underside.

4. You are now ready to attach the chicken netting. THIS IS IMPORTANT!!! Only staple the chicken netting to the 6′ long boards, NOT the saw horse boards or the table will not be able to roll up for storage.

5. If you want to give a little support to the corners of the netting, use a screw with a washer to reinforce the corners. (see the picture for step 2 above)

6. If you used a roll of chicken netting, you will need to clip your piece off at this point. To prevent scrapes from the sharp cut edges of wire, you can use the needle nose pliers to curl the pokey edges back around themselves like a snail shell (pigtails).

7. All finished! You can go skirt a fleece!

A Few Notes About Using this Skirting Table

The sides of the netting not attached directly to the sawhorses may seem a little floppy. However, I can assure you that once I put a fleece onto the table, it was not a problem. Think of it like a hammock! The tension from the weight of the wool pulled everything taught. It also made it very easy to shake out the fleece without having to tug at the locks.

When you are ready to put the table away, simply undo the wing nuts, remove the bolts, and roll up the netting with the two 6′ boards from the sides. I used a small hardware pouch to keep all the hardware together and bundled the whole thing together with a bungee cord.

If you already have sawhorses available, you can easily modify the netting to clamp onto different styles of saw horses.

I hope these instructions provide a simple skirting table solution for you and all your wool adventures!

If you want to learn more about skirting your raw fleece, I highly recommend the book Camaj Fiber Art’s Scouring and Fiber Prep Guide The Art of Washing Wool, Mohair & Alpaca Scour Wool Like a Boss: Where Art and Science Meet for Excellent Outcomes It is my go-to reference anytime I am scouring a fleece!