I love going through fabrics, they get my imagination going. When I stumbled across this Dwell Studio fabric for Robert Allen in the clearance section, I thought it would look great as a table runner for Christmas. When I checked out, I got the added surprise that the 50% off home decor fabrics counted towards clearance fabrics, so I got a yard of this for less than $8! Merry Christmas to me!
Dwell Studio for Robert Allen Fabric
The fabric does run in a specific direction, and I wanted to use it so I would have three rows of the medallions running down the table lengthwise. I measured my table and my fabric to see what the best way of piecing it would be. Getting a yard, I had just over 36″ to work with (they actually cut me 38″), and my table is 68″ long. Knowing I wanted a couple inches of overhang, I doubled the fabric of the print but decided to add a block of solid fabric at either end in a coordinating color. I had some old off-white cotton/linen that looks great with the pattern.
Off-white Cotton/Linen
Cutting my pieces to size, I wanted to seam the first two pieces so that it would look as close to seamless as possible. To do this, I ironed a straight edge on one side of the fabric, and then placed it on the other fabric (making sure that the pattern runs in the same direction) and pinned it in place. I sewed across the iron line. Turn it right side out, iron flat.
Piecing Fabric Together to Match
I think I did a pretty good job of matching it up:
Lined up Fabric
I then cut the linen pieces to size, and pinned them to the edges. I used a straightedge and pencil to mark the line, and sewed. Turn right side out again, and iron.
Pin fabric together
I have really good eyes for seeing straight lines- so if you have any hesitancy at all, you should measure and pin your fabric in the next step. Using the iron, make a crease along the long edges to sew. I used the pattern itself to keep me straight and eyeballed it.
Iron edges
Looking at the underside of the fabric, cut out triangles where the folds will be so that you have less fabric to sew through (and that could bunch up).
Cut Triangle at Fold
Sew along the long sides, and again I did this just by sight. I kept the edge of the fabric along the edge of the foot of the sewing machine to keep a straight line. I used a cream colored thread that also coordinated with the fabric, and sewed along the right side of the fabric.
Sew with Fabric Edge at Edge
Again, ironing the edges flat, I now turned to the ends, and folded and ironed them in a straight line. I tucked in the corners a little so that they wouldn’t protrude. I used the same technique of placing my fabric at the edge of the foot, and did a double stitch at the beginning and ends. Cut all loose threads, any excess fabric that you don’t want to add bulk, and iron everything flat.
Fold Fabric and Iron
So over the course of about 2 hours I think, I made a new table runner for Christmas! I like that it can go with a couple of different colored tablecloths- but I was thinking about this red tablecloth I bought last year with a gift card.
Finished Edge of Table Runner
Of course I had to make it a little prettier for the shoot- more of those ornaments are in the Cindy Crawford bowl, surrounded by vintage silver candlesticks from my grandmother.
Christmas Table Runner
It feels like Christmas is practically on top of me already, even though we still have over a week to go. Time to go make some cookies!
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