Saturday, March 22, 2014

Make a Wedding Heirloom Table Runner


When my friend Jeanine Caron married her British boy, Joe, I knew I had to have something special to offer the newlyweds. As it happened, I had a set of four vintage napkins that had been in Jeanine’s Montreal apartment, which she gifted to me before she moved house to London. (She gave them to me because I loved them so much, so only two went into this runner. Two are still with me!)
As it happens, I knew just the person to help me incorporate this sentimental textile into an heirloom linen:  Maya Donenfeld. As Maya says, “I love taking something old and transforming it into something fresh and new.”

Jeanine and Joe’s table runner features rescued coffee sacks on either end. The heavy weight keeps it in place and minimizes the likelihood of a breeze sweeping it up at an outdoor event. Burlap, a rustic and humble fabric, balances out the more decorative middle. Its durability and strength anchor the runner symbolically, as well as aesthetically. The focal point of the runner is a vintage linen piece that was once a part of a trousseau. The blue embroidery echoed the napkins’ blue floral fabric perfectly; the fact that it was replaying its original role as wedding linen felt just right.
As you gather elements for your project, consider using a ribbon from a mother’s wedding dress, a scrap from a grandmother’s favorite apron, or cherished vintage napkins from a dear friend, as we did in this case.

For the full tutorial: http://www.etsy.com/blog/weddings/make-an-heirloom-table-runner/

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