Tuesday, November 27, 2012

coffee sack tree skirt

Hey, here's a project you can make with all those pretty coffee sacks over in my Etsy "supplies" shop (you can also check out a past project here).

A reversible coffee bean sack Christmas tree skirt! It's not too tough, just a little cut and sew.



I started with a vintage sheet with a vaguely woodgrain-ish pattern for the flip side. A twin size will do.



You'll need two standard coffee sacks for this project. When you get them, take out the stitching to make two large panels.



I used a permanent marker tied to a two-foot length of string as a compass to trace semi-circles on each panel. You'll want to zig-zag or serge the edge of each panel.



You'll probably find you're happier if you treat the sheet the same way, cutting two semi-circles instead of one big circle. It's easier to handle the compass when you're not trying for an entire circle, and it leaves you the right amount of seam allowance at the slit.

Cut out the centers and zig-zag the new edge.

After stitching the two burlap halves together on one center seam only, do the same for the backing.



(Please excuse the lack of photographs for this next part; it's exactly like sewing a pillow case.) With right sides together, stitch the burlap and sheeting together around all edges with a 1/4-inch seam allowance, leaving an eight-to-twelve-inch space to turn it all inside out.

Turn it inside out, pin and press flat, and reinforce by stitching all edges.



Depending on the sheet you use for the flip side, you can get really Christmas-y, or leave it more neutral so that BOTH sides can be used with any color scheme.



You could dress this project up with rickrack, ribbon, or trim. I'll leave that to you. This one, I kept simple.


Of course, if you'd rather buy than make this close to Christmas, you can always jump over to my Etsy shop and snap this one up! Or start collecting supplies now; this project is pretty quick (maybe three hours, total) so you totally have time to order your coffee sacks and still get it stitched up weeks before Christmas. Use the code "CAFECHRISTMAS" at checkout to get a 25% discount on all coffee sacks in my supplies shop between now and December 25th.



But enough about me; what are you working on for the holidays? Any big projects you're trying to tackle?

Thanks for reading!


p.s. you can make these photos larger just by clicking on them, but you probably already knew that.


Linking up to:

Visit thecsiproject.com

Petite Hermine

3 comments:

Amy of While Wearing Heels said...

How did I not know you had an etsy shop? I just favored you or whatever you do on esty to "like" you :). You've had 27 sales??? I am impressed! This is beautiful and rustic and charming. The perfect addition to any Christmas tree.

Night Garden Design said...

Yeah; I've had the shop open for years, so it's not really that impressive. ;)

My supplies shop does better. Mostly old Girl Scout badges and coffee sacks right now, but my tape measure fabric has been doing well lately, too!

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing this.

coffee house