Well, I loved the ruffles and wanted to make a table runner for our little {tiny} kitchen table. I have been trying to bring in a lot of red's into my very-brown living room and kitchen--which is pretty much the same room in our {tiny} apartment! So I put my own spin on Jen's fabulous idea with my denim ruffled table runner. Here is what I did to whip this up:
Disclaimer: As always, I am sure there is an easier, cuter, or more efficient way to do things. This is what I did, and this is what worked for me!
I bought 5 different fabrics (about 1/3 yard each). I planned to do some red and white, and then suddenly I realized it would look red-white-and-blue, and kind of liked that idea... so I went with it!
Anyway, I cut strips of fabric that were 36 inches long (except with my white fabric, I only had 22 inches length to work with, so I made them 22 inches long and gathered these ruffles LESS.) I varied up the width from 2.5 to 3.5 inches wide. I needed 2 strips per ruffle, so I pinned 2 of these together, wrong sides together.
To prevent fraying, I zigzagged around the entire strip. There is still some fraying, but again, I like the way that worked with the denim.
Next, I sewed down the center of each fabric strip without backstitching at all. I pulled on a thread to gather the ruffle together. I wanted the ruffles to end up being about 17 inches long, so I measured them until I got the length I wanted.
Then I sewed over my center stitch again to secure each ruffle--and this time I backstitched. I created about 14 or 15 ruffles for my table runner, but you could do more or less depending on the look you want.
I decided I wanted a ribbon edge, so I bought a roll of about 15 yards of this adorable red polk-a-dot ribbon. I used Wonder Under to adhere the ribbon to all 4 edges of my runner. I adhered the ribbon about 1/2 inch from each edge, leaving room for my seams.
After ironing the ribbon on, I sewed all the way around the ribbon. I sewed both the outer and inner edges for added security.
Now for the fun part!! I arranged the ruffles where I wanted them and pinned them onto the denim. Pin very carefully because it is very easy to sew a ruffle crooked... at least for me. A couple of them snaked around on me!
After all of the ruffles were sewed in place, I pinned the top denim piece (with the ruffles) to the bottom denim piece, right sides together. Then it was time to sew, baby, sew! I left a 1/2 inch seam allowance around all 4 edges and sewed all the way around, leaving a good-sized opening to turn it inside out.
Then I turned it all the way inside out, admired my work, and sewed up the opening by hand.
I pressed all the way around my edges to be sure the ribbon would lie flat (it was so close to my seam, it needed a little extra help.) And then I trimmed up all of those extra threads...
So here it is. What do you think?? Now I just need to decide what kind of centerpiece would look good. Any ideas??? Any flower experts out there?? I would love your input.
Have a wonderful week... and thanks for stopping by!!
