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A Built-in Table Runner

Now that we're in the week in between the holidays, you may have a little time on your hands, and want to take up a project... and you may also find that you're still consistently receiving guests and loved ones for meals.

Looking for a quick, refreshing fix for your still-at-work holiday table? Well, you could have all the materials you need to create a "new" tablecloth, particularly if you're interested or looking to incorporate some whimsical holiday colors.

For us, we had an orange and white striped tablecloth that we had used for a summer party. While it fit in perfectly with the colors, theme and tenor of that soiree, I've had little use for it since. But that means it's perfect for repurposing, right? In addition, if you're a sewer, you probably have plenty of yardage of several fabrics that you're not sure if you'll ever use. For me, that was a few yards of some holiday fabric I bought a few years ago. It's a festive, charming print of kids playing outdoors in a Winter Wonderland, but I'll admit I never knew exactly what I'd do with it. It just so happens that its colors match and complement the orange-and-white stripe tablecloth.

So to incorporate the "Winter Wonderland" fabric into the existing tablecloth, I cut the tablecloth in half lengthwise, and then made a "runner" out of the fabric that fits snugly in the middle. You can cut the fabric depending on the size of the runner you like; it's all in the proportions of the tablecloth you're working with. My orange-and-white stripe tablecloth is 60 inches by 102 inches. The runner I sewed into it measured 20 inches by 102 inches.

I cut the 20-by-102 fabric from a piece in my stash, and then literally sewed it into the middle of the two lengths of tablecloth. If you don't have that much yardage, consider sewing pieces of the "runner" together first so that they'll fit the length. A seam will show, but you'll still have a happy-looking tablecloth overall. Whichever route you go, do allow for a 5/8-inch seam allowance on each side of the holiday fabric you're sewing into the tablecloth.

After cutting the necessary pieces, pin the holiday fabric, right sides together, to the first half of tablecloth, and sew the length of the tablecloth. Then repeat the process on the second length of tablecloth. It's that simple.

And you've suddenly added some more fun to your ongoing festivities.