How To Make An Easy No-Sew Fringed Table Runner

Oh you guys, I love, love, love to share DIY projects like this with you! The easier the tutorial, the better in my book. I don’t think many of us have a lot of extra time to spend on things like decor, but it does make a difference in how we feel about our homes and I believe gives us a lot of joy. So my job (as I see it, anyway!) is to show you that you can add beauty without lots of time or money involved.

Enter the no-sew fringed table runner – a super easy way to update and freshen your table with basic fabric. Any natural fabric with a thick enough weave that you can pull the thread from will work: plaid cotton flannel like I used, burlap, linen, and regular home decor cotton fabrics.

When I shared our Christmas decor plan with you, I knew that using the new green plaid fabric for envelope pillows and a table runner would go a long way to creating the overall look I wanted. Without spending a lot of time or money. In fact, the 2-1/2 yards of green plaid I bought cost less than $14 (with 40% off), making this runner and the set of envelop pillows $7 each with enough left to make our mantel NOEL paper mache letters and a few other touches. #win

Ready to make your own, custom table runner?

How to Make a No-Sew Fringed Table Runner

Note: affiliate links included for your convenience

1. Cut fabric to the length & width you want for your table. My example is 16″ wide by 2-1/2 yards (90″) long.
2. Use a seam ripper (or large pin or other small, sharp tool) to gently pull 2-4 thread of fabric weaving from the edge. Note: every seam ripper I’ve ever owned splits the top as I use it like you see above. Maybe I use a lot of brute force in my seam ripping?
3. Gently pull the loosened threads from the fabric. It will probably break, especially with longer pieces like this. Just pull what you can, use the seam ripper again and pull again. This is something you can do while watching TV or listening to an audiobook to make the time pass quickly!
4. Trim any longer pieces of the fringe as you like with fabric scissors.

Optional: you can trim up the edges if you want a cleaner look. I never bother, as you’d probably guess – this was just for information purposes. 😉

I know – there’s so much to love about this, right? Easy to make, customize and change with the seasons, inexpensive, and just plain lovely!

The only issue with no-sew fringed fabric is with washing – some fabrics will ravel even more, especially loose-weaved fabric like burlap. You can hand-wash (if you’re the hand-washing type…) or just enjoy a longer fringe. I’ve found that fabrics like this cotton flannel and linens won’t ravel that much more, so I’m good with washing in a machine.

However, there is a way to make sure the fringe stays the original length if you want to sew just a little bit: follow this tutorial that I wrote for making men’s low-sew scarves and you can wash without worry.

And now – go make a new runner and let me know how it turned out!

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links and by clicking on them you help support AOC at no extra cost to you – thanks so much! Plus you can trust I’ll only share what I love. (You can always read our entire disclosure page here.)