• Making a table runner is an inexpensive, quick and easy project that protects your table while adding color and texture to your decor. A table runner can be as individual as your personality and even incorporate a little family history. There's no hard and fast rule as to what a table runner should be made of, whether it's traditional, funky or sentimental. The kind of table runner you create is limited only by imagination.
  
  

Handkerchief Runner

• While it's not quite as common as it once was to carry a fancy handkerchief, many of us still have a few tucked away. If not, discount stores often sell them in boxes of three or more. They might be plain, embroidered with your family initial, or daintily stitched around the edges. Measure your table and add 12 inches. That's how long you'll want your new table runner to be. Simply sew one end of a handkerchief to the end of another until your runner is as long as you need it to be. If your handkerchiefs are decorated in any way, don't forget to line them all up so that the stitching faces the same direction.
  
  

Doily Runner

• It seems that no one, other than great-grandmothers, still use doilies to protect their furniture, and yet many of us have "inherited" some of the lacy pieces over the years. Choose doilies made of the same material or about the same weight, as a crocheted piece mixed with a lace doily will not lay on your table properly. Lay the doilies out to determine your pattern before beginning. Round pieces can be mix in with oblong and square as long as the table runner as a whole is balanced. Once you've determined where you want each doily to be, sew the end of one to the end of the next. Not only will you have a one-of-a-kind table runner, but you'll be able to display a little family history.
  
  

Place Mat Runner

• Using place mats to create a table runner is a fast and easy way to change the look of your dining table. Place mats are often inexpensive and come in a variety of styles and colors. You can either sew them together by attaching the edge of one to the edge of the next, or you can bind them by using a no-sew bonding material. In the case of the latter, you simply lay the place mats upside down, end-to-end, cut a piece of the stitch tape to length, and using a warm iron, create a bond.
  
  

Upholstery Runner

• For a custom look, try the clearance table at a nearby fabric store. You can often find an inexpensive upholstery remnant. Measure the width of your table. A finished table runner should be approximately a third the width of the table. Remember that you'll also need the runner to be 12 inches longer than your table. Leave 1-1/2 inches around each of the edges while you're cutting so that you have room for a nice hem. If the fabric is lightweight enough, you can even skip the sewing and use stitch tape to secure the hem.
  
  

Dish Towel Runner

• For a truly unique look use dish towels that incorporate your design. Whether you're a fan of toile or country farm scenes, there are dishtowels to match. Buy enough towels to sew end-to-end and you have neatly tied your table in with the theme of your room.