Sometimes when you are looking for special table decorations for a special party, you just can’t find the right thing! That’s happened to me a few times and How to Make an Easy No Sew Table Runner is the brainchild of one of my recent brainstorms.
Because, when I can’t find what I want, my mind sets off to figure out how I can make what I want! Not to be defeated, I look for ways to get the effect I want in an affordable fashion.
Confession: I’m not much of a “crafter”. I was; once upon a time. I used to sew, crochet, scrapbook, tole paint, refinish furniture, make Christmas decorations – lots of things. But, in 2007, we lost our home in a wildfire and I lost every project I’d ever done and every project in the works (see earlier series of posts starting with Any Way the Wind Blows).
I know that it’s 7 years later, but I’ve had difficulty “re-engaging” in this part of my past life. It’s not a bad thing – after all, the creation of this blog and my budding photography skills are a result of redirecting my creative energies in other ways. And, I’ve taken baby steps to branch out and step back into the crafting world…here are a few examples of other signs of recent crafting brain activity {grin}:
When I couldn’t find the right paper napkins for a party – How to Make Paper Napkins Special
When I couldn’t find the right tea lights for a party – Tea Light Tutorial: Adding Edible Sprinkles for a Bit of Sparkle
When I couldn’t find the right party favors for an adult, business-related party – Easy Party Favors Featuring You!
When I wanted to make tabletop signs, but couldn’t find ones – Easy and Creative Tabletop Signs for Your Next Party
When I wanted a framed sign for a party – Ideas for Reusing Old Picture Frames
When I wanted candy packets for Halloween trick-or-treaters – Cute and Easy Halloween Candy Packets
When I wanted Easter placecards of a certain color and couldn’t find what I wanted – How to Make Easter Placecards for Your Holiday Table in PicMonkey
And, just in case you want to see where most of the ideas above ended up, check out this post – Toot Sweet 4 Two Turns One: Blog-o-versary Party Recap
Anyway, when I couldn’t find the right shade of color for a tablecloth (either teal and fuchsia) for a recent party, I set out to solve that problem! I went to the fabric store and found the perfect material that would combine the two colors for a twin sisters’ birthday celebration (my mother and my aunt). The only problem with the fabric was there wasn’t enough fabric left on the bolt at the fabric store to make a tablecloth and the store didn’t have another bolt!
Not to be defeated, because this was the perfect fabric for this project, I bought the fabric anyway and made a table runner. And, I did it the easy way – a no sew table runner!
Here’s what I did:
This is the beautiful fabric that had just the right shades of teal and fuchsia. I photographed the edge so that if any reader wants to try to find this fabric for themselves, they’ll have the manufacturer, the name of the fabric and the number. I cut the fabric, straight down the middle of the fold line to create two long pieces of fabric, about 18 inches wide – perfect table runner size.
I didn’t want to sew them end-to-end (mainly because I don’t have a sewing machine), so I actually made 2 table runners out of the one length of fabric. I just overlapped them when placing them on the table.
First, I gathered the supplies I needed to create this project:
- Ironing board
- Iron
- Washcloth
- Scissors
- Fusible webbing
- Fabric for table runner
Then, I placed the fusible webbing down the length of the underside of the fabric, near the cut border. You want to turn your edge over at least the width of the fusible webbing so that it will be completely covered by the fabric.
Here’s another photo of what I mean. You could fold over the fabric and iron the fabric so that you have a “pocket” to insert the webbing, but I’m always in a hurry, so I don’t bother.
I held the folded fabric in place with my hand.
With the other hand, I lay the wet washcloth (be sure to wring it well) over the folded fabric.
Then place your heated iron on top of the washcloth for a few seconds (follow the fusible webbing manufacturer’s instructions on the packet).
All done! Then, just repeat the process until you have fused all sides. Finally, iron your table runner to remove additional wrinkles.
Now that you know how to make an easy no sew table runner, the world is your oyster {grin}!
Here’s a picture of two easy no sew table runners on the decorated table. It’s on top of a brown and white polka-dot table runner that I made for an earlier party and both are on top of a white tablecloth.
Want to see more pictures of this party’s tablescape? Check out this post – A Peacock Tale: Decorating the Table for a Special Celebration.
Need a place to store ideas for future projects? Pin this to Pinterest so that you always have it readily available to review!
Tootles,
Related Posts:
(other party tablescapes):
Leave a Reply