Have you ever used burlap? Let me tell you some things about it: Burlap is awesome because it gives a little bit of texture, it's durable, easy to work with and creates a slightly rustic and imperfect bit of decor. It also feels very fall to me so using it as a table runner for a couple of months out of the year just made sense.
The first thing I noticed when I unrolled my burlap was how curled up and creased it was. The easiest fix I know of for wrinkles is to iron it. So I grabbed a squirt bottle and my iron and turned it up to the highest steam setting (which for me was cotton/linen). I used a fair amount of water on each crease, but not so much that it was soaked. Then I ran my iron along the creases and wrinkles until it was nice and flat. Make sure you keep the iron moving across the burlap and don't let it rest in any one place too long.
Next, I figured out how long and wide I wanted to make my runner. I had approximately 1/2 yard x 1 yard of burlap, which happened to fit my table perfectly, but it wasn't cut straight so I evened up the edges really easily by cutting right next to one of the strands all the way down.
Once I had the length and width figured out, I decided to wanted to pull out a few strands on the long sides to give it a little less of a defined edge.
To do the tassels, I pulled about 2 inches of the strands off the ends. I set those pieces aside to use to tie up the tassels. It's really just a preference how long you want the tassels so just keep pulling strands out until you are happy with the length. (If you pull out too many, you can always just trim the ends to get it back to a length you like.) Then, gather about 10 strands together and use the pieces you pulled out to tie a nice little knot. Cut the ends fairly close to the knot so they don't poke out at a funny angle.
And there you have it! A cute, incredibly easy, no-sew burlap table runner!
What are some of your favorite ways to use burlap?
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