How to Make a Reversible Table Runner

Editor’s Note: I am very excited to welcome Bonnie today from BonnieProjects.  I had the pleasure of creating a mood board for Bonnie’s dining room, but she did all the hard work pulling the room together.  I am always impressed with her fun and creative sewing projects, so I invited her to contribute to a series called “Sew Your Decor”, and she may venture out into other fun textile projects.  Today she is sharing with us the finishing touch for her dining room makeover!

Today’s project is fun and easy – perfect even for beginners! Jackie designed my dining room last fall, but it was still missing the finishing touch – a cute table runner! She sourced two different ones in her mood board, one in pink and one in teal.

I like to DIY when possible, so I thought, “why not make my own table runners?” And then, “Better yet, why make two when I can get away with only one?!?” So, today I’m here to share a tutorial for making a reversible table runner.

First, you have a choice to make on the size of the runner. There are lot of theories on the width, like making it a third the width of your table. I just folded some scrap fabric and decided I was happy with a 15” width. Likewise, you get to pick the length. I wanted it to be longer than the table, but not so long that it touches your lap. A 55” length (standard for upholstery fabrics) leaves a few inches of overhang on either end of my 48” table.

Jackie has mentioned this before, and a great way to save money on home décor is buying exactly the right amount of fabric. The pink fabric I chose came 55” wide, so I only had to buy 16” of it. The teal fabric was only 45” wide, so I had to buy double that amount, 32”. It was on sale for $5/yard, so this wasn’t the end of the world.

Supplies/Tools:

• Just enough fabric (the size of your finished runner plus an inch or two) of two different fabrics
• Thread to match fabrics
• Pencil, chopstick, knitting needle, or other item with a good poking end
• 6” fusible hem tape (like Stitch Witchery or Heat ‘N Bond)
• Iron

Because I chose a geometric print, I wanted to make sure that my cuts were lined up with the print of the fabric. Yes, the cuts look a little weird at first, but a good pressing can fix most of that.

I cut each piece to a 16” width.

My teal fabric was too short, so I needed to sew two lengths together. The geometric print came into play again. I cut the ends so that the prints would align, and made my seam so that once they were sewn together, you wouldn’t notice the join. You would do this in any instance where the width of your fabric was shorter than the length you wanted for your runner.

Then I pressed the seam open so it would lay flat inside the runner. Can you tell where the seam is?

Now that I had two pieces long enough for the runner, time to sew them together! I cut them to be exactly the same size, 16”x55”, and carefully pinned the edges together all the way around.

I sewed the layers together (right sides together) with a ½” seam allowance. I made sure to leave an opening in one end of the runner so I would be able to turn it all right side out after sewing. I cut the corners off to make the corners less bulky once it was turned right side out.

I used a chopstick to fully turn the corners right side out. A pencil or knitting needle would also work!

To finish, I ironed the runner so the edges were pretty and flat. This probably took longer than any other step, mostly because I was being so careful! To close up the hole, I ironed a piece of stitch witchery between the layers. You could also sew some hidden stitches by hand.

Then, it earned a place on our dining table!

I love that I can easily switch up the look and feel of our dining room by just flipping over the table runner. Also, I got away with doing half the work to get two table runners, and it’ll take up less space if I need to store it!

This project took me less than an hour, and cost less than $10!

Bonnie just put the final touches on her dining room designed by Teal & Lime Interiors. Check it out on her blog.