Home Improvement : Burlap Table Runner--PB Look @ DIY Price

A few weeks ago I was in Pottery Barn and found a jute table runner. I had been looking for one and was very happy to find it on sale. I brought it home and it was way too big for my table. I love the texture of jute, burlap, etc and kept looking for one, but didn't want to pay lots and lots.... Last night I saw this post by Kristen @ Ella Claire Inspired and was so excited to make a runner myself.

I went to JoAnn's today and bought 4 yards of burlap. I followed Kristen's directions and it turned out great!

I started out by washing it with Tide and some bleach to get rid of the smell. I had to do a second load with a little more Tide and two rinses. It still smelled a little, but wasn't horrible. I took it outside and draped it over some chairs for about an hour. Before I brought it back in the house, I really tried to shake it out. There were burlap fibers flying everywhere! :)

I then did a rough measurement of it, pulled a string from it and cut carefully along that line. I cut it down the middle with the same technique. Because it was so long, the string broke a couple of times. I put on my reading glasses (haha!) and used a pin to find the string and started carefully pulling it again. Once I had it out, I again carefully cut lengthwise. I made it about 20" wide by 90" long for my 80" table.

I ironed it with my eurosteam. I tried to use a normal iron set on Silk, as Kristen did, but wasn't getting anywhere. It came out nice and smooth this way.

I set it on the table and did a final measurement. I cut it so it'd hang a few inches over the edge of the table. After that, I carefully pulled about 8 strings off, one at a time, to make the fringe. This part was really easy.

And that was it!!

I paid $10 for the burlap and can make two runners. $5 for a runner is perfect in my book! It sure beats paying $50 for the one at Pottery Barn. Thank you Kristen!