Christmas Table Runner

 I hope you enjoy seeing the transformation of this damaged old runner into anew Christmas keepsake.

I love collecting vintage textiles of all kinds. They can be a lot of fun (and cheap) to look for at antique shops, garage sales and thrift stores.  I had this wonderful old runner in my vintage textile stash, but it was in terrible condition.

I needed to find some way to make it usable and get it back out of it's box.

Below are more photos of the edges and some holes in the body of the piece. 

Using 100% cotton worsted yarn I repaired the damaged areas on the body of the piece.  Then I cut off the damaged edges. To fully clean up the edges I needed to remove about 3" of the design on each of the long sides of the piece.  With the damage gone I did a blanket stitch all the way around the edge.

I was really lucky not to have any raveling.  The piece has been used and washed many times over the years and it seems that the original cotton yarn is now so tight and the fibers so bonded together they didn't ravel. The density also made it hard to get a needle through to do the blanket stitches. 

 

With pieces I could salvage from the sides I added  flower appliques. Vintage buttons are used for the centers.

Sorry I really should have had a photo of what was cut off.

 

I'm really happy with my final results.  The original width (about 22") was nice but the damage was just to extensive to deal with.  Current size 15.5" X 64". The current width is about the same as my store made runner (16" X 72")  I'm using the extra runner under my piece to give it a bit  more presence. I liked the gold color but I also tried red under it which was also nice.

FINISHED

Hope you enjoyed the transformation of my runner.  

Have a wonderful day!