Accidental Genius

 

I can hardly spell my name (thank God for spell-checker) but I’m a genius! I got a burlap rice bag from a friend who said “maybe you could make something with this?” – ya know, that happens a lot…anyways, I’ve been inspired by Maya Made and wanted to try making a burlap bucket. I wanted to use the entire rice bag for the project so I just unraveled the side seams and the top seam – it was then one long rectangular piece of burlap. Then I lined it with some ugly blue felt (that I found at the dump – in it’s package!) and then orange check fabric. I sewed all of that together. I then wrapped the whole thing around a bowl so I would know what size to make the base, then made the base. I whip-stitched (by hand) everything together and followed with the sewing machine. I didn’t try to sew in straight lines I actually tried not to sew in a straight line – it looks pretty rustic.

OK – here is where the genius comes in – I left the original zipper intact while making the bag. There was no reason for leaving it in besides the fact that it is a pretty red and offers another pop of color. Once the bag was constructed I realized I had a great way to insert some stabilizer!!! I had some rolled cardboard that I’d been hoarding stashing for years and I got it in between the outer and inner layers via the zipper opening! My bucket now stands straight and tall. When it gets dirty just remove the cardboard and wash – put the cardboard back when dry. Stabilizer can be expensive – the zipper opens up lots and lots of opportunities… no pun intended… to use other stabilizers. I can’t wait to experiment! Happy crafting!!!