Cozy Table Runner with Old Sweaters and Flannel Shirts

My dad is the king of flannels.  I don’t think there has been a fall, winter, or spring day that my dad hasn’t worn one of his flannel shirts, for at least a portion of the day, and most of the time it’s from sun up until sun down.

Now that flannels seem to be a trend (don’t actually take my word on that one – I know nothing about style), I still can’t bring myself to wear them, because I know I’d look in the mirror and think I look like my dad.  But, I can definitely cut apart his torn, shrunken, ratty old ones and use them in my home decor!  In fact, I love that when I look at my little dining room table I think of my dad…I just don’t want to look like him.

I started with a few of his old flannel shirts and didn’t fit anymore, or had holes in the armpits that you could fit, well, your arm into.  I also had a couple of sweaters that I had shrunk down to smaller than I could have even fit into in college.

I cut up the old shirts into strips that were 15″ in length and varying widths.  I wanted the length of each strip to be the same, because this would form the edges of the table runner. Then, I simple sewed the strips together, with the right sides facing together, and then flipped them over for a clean seam.

The bottom is unfinished, but to give it a finished edge, I just ironed and sewed a hem along each edge.  (I made sure the finished edges of the shirt (the button side) started and ended the runner, so I didn’t need to finish those edges at all.)

UPDATE:  If I were to do this project all over again, I would have done two things differently.  First, I would have sewed all the flannel pieces together first.  Then, I would have topstitched the sweater strips on top of the flannel runner.  Sweaters just stretch much differently than the flannels, and it made the edges sort of wonky when I sewed them together as I did.

I also would have given a back to this runner, to help it lay flatter and look cleaner.  I should have taken the long flannel panel (with the sweaters sewn on top) and placed it wrong side together with another piece of fabric.  Then, I could have just stitched almost all the way around, leaving a small opening, turned it right side out, and then sewed up the opening.

You live and you learn.

I purposely kept some of the pieces with pockets or buttons, because I think it adds to the upcycled charm.

Love reusing what you’ve got to decorate for the holidays?  Check out all of these upcycled projects!

 

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