Fall Table Runner

My little house was in some serious need of holiday decorations. So the frugal person in me decided that a trip to the Dollar Store was in order. I am proud to say I spent a mere $4 on Halloween decorations, that's it! But when I got home I noticed that the table was still too sparse for my liking. I looked through my material stash and found some material that my mom had given me that was leftover from some curtains she had made. It looked fall-y enough but there wasn't enough left for a whole tablecloth, so a table runner it was!

Do you want to make your own? It's really easy! Here's how:

Find some fall looking material and lay it out on your table. Cut it to your tables size. I made mine so that it hangs off the table a couple inches on either end. Be sure to add an extra inch or so on all four sides for the seam allowance.

Get your iron out and start on one long side. Fold the material over a half inch and iron. 

Then fold the material over again another half inch or so and iron flat. The ironing is a really important step, don't skip it! The iron really does make the difference if you want to produce a professional looking handmade item. 

After one side is ironed take it to your sewing machine and sew down the length of the material, close to the fold. Do the same thing for the other long side and then do both ends. You are pretty much just hemming your table runner. 

Don't forget to clip your diagonals so that you get nice crisp corners in the end!

After the table runner is all hemmed it will look like a nice (but boring) finished product.

 Time to get your fall leaves out. I got a package of 150 of these at the Dollar Store. 

Side note: When I put these in the cart, Matt looked at me and said "What are those for?" (because I had already put quite a few things in the cart). I just said "I'll think of something!" and he rolled his eyes. But I knew I couldn't let 150 fall leaves for only a dollar pass me by! lol

Ok now we are going to sew the leaves on. Start on one of the long sides and one by one put each leaf down and sew right over them, on top of your hem line, down the middle of the leaf.

I alternated the leaves facing one stem inwards and one stem outwards, one stem inwards etc. This is kind of a long and slow process but it looks really great in the end! Do the other side and your done!

 I didn't iron down the middle afterwards but I probably should have since my table runner is a bit "hilly" in these pictures :)

 I thought about doing the short ends too but I thought that might be a little too excessive, but if you like it better then go ahead and do the ends.

 Doesn't my house look festive? And for only $4! :)