Burlap Backpack

I made this burlap backpack for my daughter.  She used it for several months but then moved onto something larger since.



I thought the hardest part would be finding a coffee sack, which wasn't easy.  But the hardest part was dealing with real burlap.  I shook out the bag and coffee bean crumbs fell out.  Then I washed the bag twice.  The fibres messed up my lint trap big time as I didn't know I should've emptied it out several times during the process.

Anyway, it was all cleaned up and ready to go.  I didn't have a pattern so was quite the process figuring it all out.  Thankfully I had her old bag as a guide.  I don't know if you could sew burlap without a serger, but it's sure easier with one.  The burlap seemed to start coming apart as soon as it was cut so I finished off all the edges before I even cut out the bag pieces.  Then I re-serged them before sewing them together.  I padded and lined the bag  and ... well ... it took 6 hours as I was learning as I went along.

As much as I enjoyed the process, I won't be sewing with real burlap again.  The fibres got into everything, including my nostrils.  Was sneezing up a storm afterward.

I'd love to hear from you if you've made something from a real coffee bean sack.  How did you manage all the flying fibres?

Lisa