I once made a tablecloth of old hankies, it is quite beautiful.
I took an old bedspread made out of battenburg lace (the kind that has cutouts in it) and cut it to fit my dining room table, I folded the hankies in half to form a triangle an sewed them to the edge of the cloth overlapping each one by an inch or two. Then I added lace that had spaces to lace ribbon into it across the top of the hankies to hide the seams and add decoration. You can then add several different colors of ribbon or just one color. This is not for everyday use because when you wash it, you have to iron all of the hankies again. I hate to iron if I don't have too. When my kids leave home I will bring this out again.
You can also decorate lamp shades with old hankies and ribbon.