question about table runners

I made two of these just the other day (Christmas presents). The width was

14" (35.56 cm) and the length was 36" (88.9 cm). Although my runner is shorter than the table (the table is rectangular, 33" x 60"), I am making another one for a neighbor who has a round table, which will also be shorter than the table. I find that shorter runners on a round table look more pleasing than if they went to the end of the table or below.

I'm thinking of leaving approximately 10" - 12" (25.4 cm to 30.48 cm) of table on each end of the runner. How I'm going to figure the width is to think about making the table into a square, meaning adding "space" to the rounded edges. Then I'll divide the "square" by 2 and add or subtract a few inches, depending on my mood.

I can toss the runner into the wash without having to remove the cover, although I don't know if you would want to have one like mine. I made it without a pattern, using a 9" square basted on the diagonal to batting and backing. Then I sewed and folded short strips along the "northeast" and "southwest" edges that were just the length of the edge and were in varying widths. Then along the other two edges of the square, I sewed and folded longer strips which incorporated the length of the other two edges. This way, by the time I got done with sewing the strips, I had the batting and backing on and it was quilted. All I had to do then was trim the edges and bind it.

As to heatproof material, there is a fabric called Insulbrite which I've used for potholders, casserole carriers, etc. I don't know how high the rating is, but I have used it for potholders and casserole carriers with no problem. If you want to leave plates on your runner, you can use this as batting, and it is washable. I prefer to take my runner off the table when serving (I'm too lazy to wash it!).

"cw" a écrit dans le message de news: snipped-for-privacy@enews2.newsguy.com...

Ok I think this is a good tip. I was of the mind that the long runners hanging longer than the table would look luxurious(spelling!!) but it now seems shorter is better.

I have a long 3metre piece of wine coloured curtain fabric that has heraldic designs on it that I thought would be suitable for this project. I also have some smaller lengths of christmas themed fabric that would be good for smaller christmas runners.

I am thinking that I will simply line them as adding wadding will increase the final sale price and I want to have things that are not too expensive to sell.

I have searched the sizes of ready made runners and they seem to start at

72ins and go up to about 90 ins for the most part, however the ready mades are quite mean on width I think mostly 14 to 17 ins. I am begining to think that 20 ins will make mine seem better than the ready mades and hopefully if I can point that out to customers it will clinch the sale.

I have a few dresses to cut out and make up and three more childrens jackets, then I can have a go at the table runners.

I will keep you updated when the come off the "press" Claire in Montréal, France.