I LOVE REPURPOSING! I LOVE COFFEE!
At a flea market one day, I found these amazing burlap coffee sacks. Many of them had bold and colorful graphics. I purchased several with the hopes of repurposing them into something special.
I got home and pulled up my Pintrest account to do little research. I discovered many beautiful options for repurposing these burlap beauties…pillows, purses, wristlets, memory totes, and coffee cozies.
My next step was to get on YouTube and find some sewing tutorials. I am not a skilled seamstress. But, many of the tutorials helped me to learn and adapt my process in working with burlap.
Tips on working with burlap:
1. Make sure you have a strong needle on your sewing machine. I used a needle designed to sew jeans.
2. Heavy starch and iron the sacks before sewing
3. Use a light weight iron-on fusing material on the back side of each piece.
3. Use a tight stitch or double stitch to keep the burlap from unraveling
4. When your project is finished spray with Scotch Guard
Coffee Sack Purses-Memory Totes:
I was contacted by a customer whose father had recently passed away. She asked me to make purses for her and her sister using her dad’s shirts for the lining (pictured). I was thrilled with the way they turned out. It’s a beautiful way to keep the memory of loved ones close to you each day.
Other “out of the box” ideas for purse lining: scarves, curtains, bed sheets, vintage material, bath towels, quilts (lining removed), graphic t-shirts, collegiate or pro sports material or t-shirts, and etc. Please share other ideas you might have…
Leather Straps:
These were quit a challenge for me. After I made a couple of mistakes with straps, I decided to head to our local leather store to get some guidance. With my purses in hand, the ladies there walk me through how to cut the leather, insert rivets, and hooked me up with all the tolls I needed. Again, use YouTube for a little help too.
Repurposing is fun and therapeutic! Be creative…sky’s the limit! Be sure to let me know if you try a coffee sack project of your own. I would love to hear from you.
