Aqua and Cream Burlap Tote for handmade swap

It's swap time again and this time my recipient had Aqua and White as her favourite colours. Luckily I had just the perfect printed burlap to make her a gorgeous tote for summer.

I was in such a hurry to get it made and sent out, that I completely forgot to take photos along the way. So I will make another one soon and post the tutorial then.

Printed burlap is such a great way to add wow to a simple burlap tote. There are so many designs available in printed burlap in the major fabric stores at the moment I would highly recommend experimenting with it to create a perfect summer beach tote!

I hope Jo enjoys her new tote as much as I enjoyed making it!

New Pattern Release - Luggage Tags, School Book Covers and Keepsake Keyrings

Burlap is definitely my favourite fabric to craft and sew with. It provides so many challenges and is such a versatile fabric. I do however, on occasion, sew with regular fabrics as well. You may not be aware, but I design a range of simple to follow, fun sewing patterns for beginner sewers.

All my patterns are available in my pattern store (accessible from the Pattern Store tab above). And I am proud to let you know I have just uploaded three new patterns to the store.

Strawberry Basket the Prefect table centrepiece

Strawberry Burlap Basket

 The boys have been begging me to go to the local Strawberry Farm to pick their own strawberries. We went last year and they had such a great time, they have been waiting patiently for strawberry season to start. 

For full instructions on how to make your own Burlap Basket press

How to Grow a Sack of Potatoes

- Literally!    Even if you live in a tiny apartment.

If you've ever grown your own potatoes you would be familiar with the great potato hunt that occurs at the end of each crop! For those of you that haven't, I'll explain. Potato's grow as a plant that comes out of the ground, whilst under the ground the potatoes are forming. The potatoes are ready when the plant dies off. The problem is you then have to find the potatoes by randomly digging through the ground around the plant. This is relatively easy for a potato farmer with a tractor but not so easy for the home gardener.

But I have a Burlap solution of course!

Growing your own potato plant inside a burlap sack makes the process of retrieving your loot of potatoes really easy because you know that all your potatoes will be contained within the sack. It is a great project for kids, and non gardeners as well, as it is very straightforward and low maintenance. Plus it looks fabulous in any garden or deck and also makes the perfect apartment garden.

For full instructions on how to grow your own sack of potatoes press >

Inspiration all around - inspiring ideas for using burlap

Love, Love, Love this cushion!

It seems retail therapy is the flavour of the month this month. I think with the kids on school holidays I actually have some time (even though it is usually 5 minutes with a bribe to the video store to follow) to visit all the beautiful homewares stores we are lucky to have in Noosa.

Last week I popped into Eclectic Style in Noosaville and was surprised to find a large range of Burlap items scattered through their shelves. It appears that Burlap is more in fashion 
than ever. A return to a simple design aesthetic has increased the popularity of Burlap in recent years particularly in the home decoration area.

Anyway here are a few of the treasures I came across.