The Victorian era saw a period of heightened textile usage: doilies, runners, scarves and antimacassars. Antimacassar isn't a term that frequents our vocabulary--according to Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, it's a cover for the back or arms of a chair ... to prevent them from being soiled by macassar ... oil from the hair. Men's hair oils led to the ruin of many Victorian chairs. Today, the antimacassar is known as the armrest cover. You can learn how to sew a chair armrest cover from table runners and give your home the look of a Victorian parlor with the efficiency of modern fabric.
The wonderful thing about sewing with purchased table runners is that most of the work is done for you. You can use table runners with intricate embroidery and tassels to give the chair armrests a formal appearance. Try using holiday runners that you can purchased at end-of-season sales for pennies on the dollar to sew armrest covers for your chairs for the next holiday season. You can use reversible table runners with a bit of clever camouflage when sewing the cut ends--use a length of bias tape or lace to cover the sewn seam.
