How Much Fabric for a Table Runner? A Designer's Guide
Why a runner, and why the math matters
A table runner is the lowest-commitment way to change a dining room: one length of fabric, hemmed, down the middle of the table. It is also the piece designers most often under-order, because the obvious number (the table length) is not the number you buy. You buy the table length, plus the drop, plus the hems, plus one full pattern repeat. Skip any one of those and the runner ends short of the edge, or lands with a rose sliced in half at the center.
The fabric here is Roses Pompadour 75B, a blue floral linen from Antoinette Poisson: 100% linen, woven and printed in France, 53.5-inch printed width, 23.2-inch pattern height, drop match. It sells by the meter in half-meter increments at $296.70 a meter, cut to order, with $7 memo samples that ship in 2 business days.
The formula
A runner has four numbers, in order:
1. Table length. Measure the table itself, not the room or the rug.
2. The drop. How far the runner hangs over each end. Twelve inches per end is the classic tailored drop: long enough to read as intentional, short enough to clear chair backs.
3. Hem allowance. Allow 2 inches per end, 4 inches total.
4. One full repeat. Add one complete repeat so the workroom can slide the cut until a motif lands centered. This is the step most quotes miss.
Finished length is table length plus twice the drop. Cut length is finished length plus hem allowance plus one repeat. Convert inches to meters (divide by 39.37) and round up to the next half-meter, because that is how the fabric is sold.
Worked example: a 72-inch table for six
For a standard 72-inch dining table:
- Table length: 72 inches
- Drop: 12 inches over each end
- Finished length: 96 inches
- Hem allowance: 4 inches
- One repeat: 23.2 inches
- Cut length: 123.2 inches
Convert: 123.2 divided by 39.37 is 3.13 meters, rounding up to 3.5 meters. At $296.70 a meter, the total is $1,038.45.
Now see what the repeat costs. Without it, the cut would be 100 inches, or 2.54 meters, rounding up to 3.0 meters for $890.10. The repeat adds one half-meter, or $148.35 — the price of a centered motif instead of a rose cut in half at the table's edge. Show that line to the client, do not absorb it.
The width trick: napkins from the side strip
A runner is 18 inches wide on a 36-inch-wide table, leaving 9 inches of bare table on each side — enough for plates, not so much that the runner looks lost. The printed width is 53.5 inches, so an 18-inch runner uses barely a third of it. The side strip left over, roughly 35 inches wide and the full cut length long, is more than enough for dinner napkins. Quote the napkins with the runner.
One caution: do the math on the printed width, never the full width including selvedge — the 1.4-inch white selvedges on each side of Roses Pompadour 75B get cut away.
A second table: 96 inches for eight
For a 96-inch table, finished length is 120 inches and cut length is 147.2 inches: 3.74 meters, rounding up to 4.0 meters for $1,186.80. The repeat is a fixed addition, so short runners — where it bites hardest — are the ones that get under-quoted.
Three mistakes to avoid
Ordering the table length. A 72-inch order for a 72-inch table ends flush with the edge, with no drop and no hem. It reads as a mistake, not a style choice.
Forgetting the repeat on a patterned linen. On a solid, finished length plus hems is enough. On a 23.2-inch floral, skipping the repeat leaves the motif placement to chance.
Ordering in whole meters. A 3.13-meter need is a 3.5-meter order, not a 4-meter one. Rounding up to the next whole meter on every piece quietly adds up across a project.
A note on the chinoiserie alternative
If the room wants chinoiserie, Canton 70B is the same $296.70 a meter, in 100% linen at 300 g/m², with a wider 69.3-inch printed width. Its pattern height is 110.2 inches — a full scenic, not a repeating sprig — so the rule changes: you do not add a full repeat, you plan which part of the scene lands on the table and approve it from the sample.
Care, lead time, and ordering
Roses Pompadour 75B is machine washable at 30°C on a gentle cycle, with air drying recommended — a real advantage for a piece that lives under wine glasses. It is cut to order in 6–8 weeks, so a holiday table needs its order placed early. The $7 memo sample, shipping in 2 business days, is the step that protects the timeline: approve the colorway first, then start the clock.
FAQ
How long should a table runner be?
Table length plus 24 inches: a 12-inch drop over each end.
How much fabric do I need for a table runner?
Finished length plus hem allowance plus one full repeat, converted to meters and rounded up to the next half-meter. For a 72-inch table in Roses Pompadour 75B, that is 3.5 meters.
Can I make napkins from the leftover fabric?
Yes. An 18-inch runner cut from a 53.5-inch printed width leaves a side strip wide enough for dinner napkins.
Should I order a sample first?
Yes. Cut yardage is final sale, and a $7 memo sample shipping in 2 business days is the cheapest insurance on a four-figure order.
Order the sample, then the yardage, through Callista Home's fabric collection, or ask the Trade Program to check your quantities — and for a full room, start with a quote request so the numbers are checked twice before anything is cut.