Hi again everyone! Today I’m going to talk about using your patterns for more than the original purpose. No, I’m not talking about printing them out and using them to line the bottom of a bird cage… I’m talking about taking one of your patterns, maybe one you really like, and making something else with it. It’s easier than you might think. For instance, many table runners could be also made as placemats if you make only one or two of the blocks and add or eliminate sashing or borders.
Here’s a good example. Pattern #583 Regal Runner, is a very popular table runner pattern for us. I’m sure you already know you can make it in whatever colors you want, but what if you would rather have placemats instead of a long runner? Watch how easy it is to do that. First, we took the original pattern, which had five motif blocks in it.
We took one block and changed the colors for a nice cheery spring table. These blocks are only 8 x 12 inches, so not big enough for a placemat.
Next we added a two inch border all the way around (cutting the strips 2-1/2 inches to allow for seams), and 2 inch squares (again cutting them 2-1/2 inches) for the corners. This makes each placemat 12 x 16 inches – a nice size. And now you have a cute new placemat design!
You can alter most runner and topper patterns to be used as placemats, trivets and pot holders. Get creative with sashing and borders. You can also take the design from a runner pattern and make a quilt, or the other way around – use the blocks from a quilt to make a table runner. The possibilities are pretty endless.
Here’s one more fun little pattern altering project example for you – the same principle but opposite. Take a placemat pattern you like and make it into a table runner. Pattern #577 Dinner Diamonds is our most popular placemat pattern, but wouldn’t it make a striking table runner?
First, we pick our new colors. Then, since these placemats are only 10 x 18, we need to figure out how to make them longer and a little wider. We won’t need these narrow borders. We will add wider ones once we make the diamond section longer.
Next, we need to make more of the diamond sections to make the runner as long as we want it. We can either make two placemat sections and connect them with sashing, or we can make one longer diamond section by repeating the diamond strips as many time as we need for our desired length.
Now we can add a border, wider than the original one, or maybe even add two borders. And now you have a nice new runner for your table!
Have you done this kind of thing with any of our patterns? We’d love to see it if you have!