DIY Ruffled Table Runner

Lately anytime I have a day off from work, I spend it locked in my craft room, creating things. 

It makes my heart so happy. 
Good Friday was no exception. I finished my nephew’s baby quilt A WHOLE WEEK EARLY. Typically I finish quilts around midnight the night before I give them away, but my sister’s baby shower isn’t until next weekend, so I had time to spare. This was my fastest quilt yet… I started it March 10 and finished it April 6. I can’t WAIT to show you pictures of this adorable quilt made from vintage baby fabrics and featuring some of the straightest lines I’ve ever sewn. It was like a quilting miracle. I think it’s my fancy new machine.
Now I just have to wait two more months until I can see Baby Luke use his new quilt. Gah, I am so excited to meet him.
But I digress… I finished the baby quilt and still had some spare time so I decided to whip up a spring table runner from some old burlap I found on sale last Christmas. I also had some old white linen ruffles lying around that were leftover from my ruffled Christmas tree decorations. 
I thought about sewing the ruffles on the ends of the burlap, but I felt like it needed more color. That’s when I found this gorgeous green and berry fabric from my stash that needed a good home. And so I did this:
To learn how to sew a ruffle, you can watch this video and look at the first technique. However, I only made one line of stitching on my ruffles instead of her two. (Shhh… don’t tell anybody but it was incredibly easy – but to impress folks we’ll act like it was really complicated.)
To make my table runner, I simply laid my patterned fabric over a wider burlap backing and then hand stitched the ruffle over the place where the two fabrics met, conveniently hiding the raw seams. My stitches were loose and messy, hidden by the very forgiving ruffle, and weren’t required to be very strong since it will simply sit on top of my table – durability isn’t a big deal. I could have sewn this on my machine but I didn’t want the rough burlap to dull my needle.
I then stitched my ruffle to the other side and frayed the edges of the burlap. About one hour after I started my project, I had this: 

It’s a perfect fit for our beloved rustic barn table. Pottery Barn has a similar table (but not as cool as ours) for almost $2,000. I think Mr. Right paid $100 for his. I fell in love with the table (which features a frame made from real oxen yokes and handmade chairs) even before I started dating him… and now I have both!
Sometimes you’re just lucky like that.

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