How to Make a Fireplace Mantel Scarf or Runner for Christmas

A mantel scarf is the backdrop for your Yuletide display.

Christmas without a fireplace is like Santa without his sleigh. The fireplace mantel's association with Christmas is so strong that people make fake fireplaces just so they have a place to hang their stockings and Christmas cards. A fireplace mantel scarf or runner provides a colorful backdrop for the decorations in your Yule display.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring tape
• Cutting table
• Sharpened scissors
• Bright-red or emerald satin brocade
• Dry iron on lowest setting
• Pressing cloth
• Sewing machine or needle and thread
• 9 mm x 6 mm red and green glass oval beads
• 6 mm red and green glass round beads
• 4 mm silver cone spiral beads
• Solvent-based anti-fray adhesive

Instructions

1. 

   Measure the mantel to ensure you do not waste fabric.

   Measure the length of your fireplace mantel and add two to four feet. This provides a one- to two-foot drape off each end. Choose the shortest drape length if you have a working fireplace.

2. 

   Sharp sewing shears prevent snags.

   Measure the width of the mantel and add one inch for a seam allowance. Use sharpened scissors to cut your fabric to the correct dimensions. "Only very sharp scissors will prevent snagging the fabric," says Sew and Sew co-owner Peggy Fondren.

3. 

   Keep the shiny side down.

   Lay your fabric on a cutting table with the wrong side facing the ceiling. The wrong side is the dull side of the fabric.

4. 

   Use a dry iron on low.

   Turn your iron to its lowest dry setting. Do not use any steam settings. Steam can cause the dyes in satin fabric to run, leaving ugly stains. Lay a pressing cloth over the fabric and press away any wrinkles using a gliding, clockwise motion from the center of the fabric away from your body and out to the left, and away from your body out to the right. This prevents the fabric from slipping and creating new wrinkles.

5. Make a one-half-inch fold along both long edges of the fabric. Do not press the fabric flat along the fold. Stitch along both long sides of the fabric, one-quarter-inch from the fold.

6. 

   Use glass and sterling-silver beads, not plastic.

   Use sharpened scissors to make cuts one-quarter-inch wide and two inches long into the short ends of your mantel scarf to create fringe. Thread red and silver beads in an alternating pattern on every other fringe strand. Thread green and silver beads on the fringe strands between the red- and silver-beaded ones.

7. Apply solvent-based anti-fray adhesive to the ends of each fringe strand and allow to dry. Arrange your mantel scarf as desired.

References

• Sew and Sew: Satin Secrets
• Crochet N Crafts: Sewing with Satin