DIY Aisle Runner – Customize Your Wedding!

Aisle runners are relatively simple to make and take less time than you might think.  They are also an inexpensive DIY project that adds personalization to your wedding.  Here are some easy steps to take to create your very own runner but the actual theme, colors and design of your runner are completely up to you.

Materials:

-White Muslin.  White is easiest to see-through.  Therefore easiest to trace onto, but depending on your design, you may choose other colors.

-Iron

-Easy Hem Adhesive

-Scotch Tape

-Sewing Pins

-Acrylic Paint

-Stencils, other embellishments

1. Buy the while muslin from your local craft or fabric store.  Usually, it comes 45″ wide, which is perfect.  You can purchase the entire bolt, or if you know the length of the aisle, you can opt to buy the exact amount of yards you’ll need (add a few extra yards than your measurements though, just in case!)

2. Lay the muslin flat and iron any parts that you’d like to stencil in or paint.

3. With your home computer and printer, design an image or logo with the Paint program.  Under the page set-up, expand the image to 3 pages wide, by 3 pages tall.  This way, your image will be large enough to see and draw/paint on the runner.

4. Print and arrange the image the way you’d like it to look on your runner and tape it to your kitchen table or other flat surface. 

5. Lay the ironed muslin on top of the image.  You will be able to see pretty clearly through the fabric.  Use a few pins, to pin the material to the paper image that you’ve taped down.

6. With a pencil, lightly trace the image onto the muslin.

7. Now you can begin to paint the image with your acrylic paint.  Depending on whether you’re right or left handed, start at the opposite side of your design and work your way over so you don’t smudge the paint as you move.

8. You can add stencil designs or hot glue embellishments like ribbon.  Once you’ve finished painting and gluing, give your runner 3 to 4 hours to completely dry.  Use your hem adhesive to glue any unfinished hems then just roll it up and store it until your wedding day.

Here are a few examples for inspiration:

9. (Optional) After your special day, you can cut your design out of your runner and use it as a wall hanging like this bride did.  Leave about 2″ of fabric at the top of the design to fold over, glue and insert a small curtain rod for easy hanging.