Spring Table Runner

Lots of pins and a little basting were in order. 

I never thought much about table runners until I moved into our new house and we bought a huge dining room table from Pottery Barn. The table is about eighty inches long without its inserts. The first table runner I put down was a clearance special from Pier One and it was great. I enjoyed being able to put things on the table -- like flowers -- without worry that I would harm the varnish. But I soon realized that table runners go in and out with seasons. My Pier One runner was a harvest yellow color, so I had to go looking for one more appropriate for winter. I learned that table runners are expensive when not on clearance. The nice ones can cost fifty dollars or more.

A few weeks ago, I found a spring floral from IKEA in my fabric stash and paired it with some bright green poplin to make a spring runner. I prefer to use sewing patterns instead of guessing it all out, and I found one in the McCalls catalog. The pattern called for a large border around the feature fabric, but this is where I ran into trouble. It takes more fabric than you'd think to make a table runner. If you think about it, you realize that your fabric has to be as long as the final product. My poplin was not, so I had to cut it into segments and sew them together. This caused a ricochet of measurement issues. What I'm saying is that this table runner has a lot of mistakes in it.

Pretty!

But, in the end, I like how my runner turned out. You have to squint to see that the corners aren't perfect and that there are more seams on one side of the border than the other. The two fabrics worked well together and it has an expensive feel to it. I probably over-pressed it a little, but I can correct that by washing. The pattern said interfacing was optional, and I decided not to use it since the fabrics had a crisp hand. I'm not sure if I will use this sewing pattern again -- working the corners was very tricky and the instructions were vague.

Making sure I get credit.

If you want to make a runner, be prepared for more work than you might anticipate. There's lots of ironing involved. I love to iron, so I enjoyed it. This is not the end of table runners for me. I'm currently knitting one from a cotton-rayon blend. It has glass beads on the edges . . .