November Ruffle Table Runner

Here's a fun tutorial I did for Thanksgiving/November and shared on Cherished Bliss this past weekend:

Now that Halloween is behind us, I really wanted to update my table runner for November and Thanksgiving. I wanted something that was Thanksgiving inspired but not "in your face" Thanksgiving so I could use it for more things. (I have another turkey table topper coming up next week :-)

What do you think??? I love the burlap inspired, organic cotton I used for the center. I love the texture from the ruffles, and I love, love, love how the painted letters turned out!

It was pretty easy to make but I put together a few steps if you want to make you're own.

First, I used my Silhouette to cut freezer paper and make the template for the word, Thankful. I have to use the card stock settings due to the thick wax on the paper. But it does work.

Then get your fabric prepped. I cut a large rectangle for the center (mine was about 16 inches wide and about 30 inches long). I then cut strips for the border (I did 4 1/2 inches wide) and attached along each side. This is pretty quick.

The runner is now ready to paint on the lettering. Iron on the freezer paper in your desired location. I picked the bottom right hand corner. Iron it on, and then paint it. I used regular craft paint and then sprayed a little bit of sparkle on it. I used a burnt orange and mixed in a little brown.

While this is drying, you can prep your ruffling. I made all three ruffles and left them long, then measured it and cut it. I think it's hard to know exactly how well each fabric will ruffle up. There are a lot of great tutorials on making ruffling, so I'll skip that here. I did finish the edging of the ruffle so it wouldn't fray and also tucked the ends under when I attached each end so there would be no raw seams exposed.

Once your fabric is dry from the paint, find the perfect spot for your ruffles. I chose the left side of the runner. Pin them in place, then sew them down by sewing down the middle of each row.

The top of your runner is now complete. You can now hem the edges and be done, or if you want a little more "poof" in your runner, you can finish it like a quilt. This is what I chose to do. You lay the top of your runner face down against the fabric backing. The pretty sides of both the top and bottom should be facing each other. Then you sew the two pieces together around each side, leaving a whole about 6 inches.

You can now add batting if you'd like. Then flip the batting and the runner inside out through that small whole you left. Use your hand to pop everything out so it's all right sides out. Now iron everything flat. Sew up your hole where you flipped the runner. I also added some top-stitching along the inside of the border to secure my batting in place and make sure if wouldn't move around.
(This is where I sewed up the whole on the side. It's not very noticeable.)
(Here's a close-up of the top-stitching along the inside of the border.)

And Voila... the finished product