I decided one night I wanted to make a table runner for the new outdoor table I built one night, and by 11 AM the next morning, it was done.
Because I’m a bit impulsive with projects sometimes. And it was bad weather and I knew I needed something to work on inside while Ramona napped.
So I packed R up and we went out to Jo-Ann bright and early. I usually take forever picking out a fabric, but since we were running up against nap time, I had to choose quickly. This was good and bad. Good because I didn’t waste time being indecisive, bad because I bought the wrong size. But it was a clearance fabric that I had eyed before—I just didn’t have a project for it. I ended up having to cut the fabric into two pieces to make a runner long enough for my table. If your fabric is long enough for your runner, go ahead and skip to step 3 
Here’s what I used for my DIY outdoor table runner:
- Fabric
- Sewing machine
- Pins, scissors
- Iron, ironing board, starch
And here’s how I did it.
Step 1: First I laid the fabric out and marked where to cut my two pieces out. This was based on the pattern. Since I wanted to pattern to line up when I sewed these two pieces together, I had to be careful.
Step 2: Next I sewed the two pieces together and then pressed the seam to one side so the fabric would lay nice and flat.
(The second pic below is before pressing.)
Step 3: I laid the entire piece out on the floor and used a tape measure to lay out how long my table is. Then I trimmed the ends down based on how much of an overhang I wanted for the runner—I decided on about 8 inches.
Step 4: This is a fray-riffic fabric, so I folded the edges down using an iron and pinned in place. Then I just used a straight seam to sew in place, removing the pins as I went. Repeat for both long sides.
See the difference between the fraying side and the side I folded down and sewed? Much cleaner!
Step 5: Once both long sides were done, I folded the ends over and repeated the same process.
The only difference here is that I folded the ends over twice and them sewed them shut. I wanted to create a thicker finished edge here for the hanging ends.
Give all of the seams a quick press, trim any loose threads, and you’re done!
Here’s the finished piece on the table. I bought the fabric and made the runner before I chose the rug (big mistake) and now think they don’t look that great together. Too busy. I’m still keeping it around, though. Who knows. I might have to get a new rug in the future? (I hope not because I love this one!)
See my full backyard post from May here & a July update here!
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