Tuesday, January 11, 2011

I Made a Table Runner

...Well actually, I made 1 1/2 table runners (before my time expired and Christmas gift-giving began!) with the help of my new {old} Singer machine.
I had a hay day at the fabric store (which is more like a warehouse of thousands of choices) where I grabbed lots of my favorite samples. Then I picked 2 neutrals {you'll see the butter yellow and taupe} to make the runner two-sided.
I roughly cut up the samples into rectangles and added a few samples I had at home {remember my roman shade and dining chairs? and my cornice boxes?}

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I sewed on patchwork blocks out of the samples at the ends of my neutral fabrics, making sure my modern:traditional and earthtones:bolds ratios felt right.

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Then putting the two long neutral pieces together with the sample-sides {pretty-sides} face to face or inside out, I sewed all the way around the perimeter except leaving 6 inches open for me to flip it back right-side-out. Got all that?
Okay, now it feels like a table runner!

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I poked out all the corners with my scissor tips, ironed it flat {cautious of the not-yet-sewn part}, and then sewed all the way around the perimeter.

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I love that the patchy, loose look allowed me to make lots of little rookie mistakes. It has character :)

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And it was a really fun surprise for my sister {this guy's mama} and mama {this one's mama}

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You can make one, too. It's quite fun--and now I see see skirts, pillows, and jackets with new eyes as my appreciation for the art of sewing has increased tenfold.

{Two runners are shown, 54" x 14"}

7 comments:

Erica said...

LOVE MINE!!!!! :)

Robin said...

Yay! I was hoping you would post this. Now I can steal, um, copy your brilliant idea. Did you leave the edges of the patches rough or did you finish them when you sewed them on?

sallie kate said...

Rough and tough edges :) Might be smart to finish them if you see washing in its destiny.

susan said...

I think the rough edges sorta add to its charm. Bravo!

Jessica said...

so much character in these, i'm so glad you posted this, i was curious to see how the latest project turned out!

Sam W. said...

so impressed, sal! great work. also, check out my cute mama in law's blog...she gave you a shoutout :)

Teri Dufilho said...

love it, sal !!!.......so so creative!! (if i were corny, i would have said "sew" creative.....but that's sew not like me!!)

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