The joys of working with burlap...

Here's a peek at what I worked on today:



Kelly - these are coming your way! I only finished 7 of them - the prep was brutal... I washed the burlap coffee bag first, and it softened up a bit and shed all over the place. Then I moved it from the laundry room to the kitchen, and it shed all over the place. I made some templates based on a cardboard coffee jacket I got from BCC, and the burlap shed all over the place. Then I started cutting. Guess what? it shed all over the place. Moved it into the dining room to press some wrinkles out and sew it to the felt I cut out as well... still shedding. I've hermetically sealed all the burlap in plastic bags, and I bet it's still shedding all over the place. I actually took a shower after sewing today, because the little burlap pieces were cutting into me - you know, like the little hairs after you get a haircut? But this I think is worse - the burlap fibers go airborne.

OK - so that's the bad side of working with burlap. The good side is - it looks REALLY cool! And it actually sews up pretty easily. I'll finish up the rest of them when I can do it all in one shot - that way I don't have so much shedding. Then I'm going to toss them all into the drier to fluff with no heat, so they can get all their shedding out of their system.

The turquoise one on the right is my favorite. It actually says "Yirgacheffe" (or at least, as much as fits on the jacket). And I didn't even plan it that way!

Peace -

Leigh