I Guess I'm Not ReMARTHAble With My Burlap Bag.

 

Does everybody know what I'm talking about when I say, "ReMARTHAble?"  If not, I'll tell ya.  It was the contest that Martha Stewart recently had where you could enter a project that you thought embodied what Martha Stewart does.  The 5 finalists get to go to NYC and be on her show, and the winner gets a BMW that she helped design.  So, I totally told my husband we'd need to make room in the garage for my new car.  He, he!  However, it turns out that we don't need the extra room for the fancy car after all. I did think that my bag was Martha-esque, though, because I think of Martha as the MacGyver of crafting.  You know what I'm talking about.  She could probably make anything with just a toothpick and a piece of thread.  Well, that's where I was going with this.  I wanted a new purse, and I thought, "Hey, you've got burlap and a sewing machine.  Make yourself one!"  So, I did.

Anyhow, I thought my burlap bag was reMARTHAble, but I guess it wasn't, because I'm not heading to NYC to be on the Martha Stewart show...lol, which is why I've been holding back this little masterpiece..lol. Plus, I guess I could have waited for a bigtime feature somewhere to show it off (again, lol), but who cares about fame and fortune and sponsors (again, lol) when it comes to blogging, right?  Just kidding, I'd love fame, fortune, and sponsors.  At least then I'd feel like my time blogging wasn't in vain.  But then I think about you guys who are reading this; you're just like me...you love new crafting ideas, and that, my friends, is why I share this stuff.  It's why you share your stuff.  What a wonderful blogworld we live in!  

So here it is.  I didn't measure anything because I just cut the burlap to be the size and shape that I wanted for my bag.  Go for it.  It's very liberating to just cut without measuring.  It's how I usually roll!

 

 Cut two pieces of burlap that are the size and shape you want your bag to be.

Fold over the top of each, pin it, and sew down to create a nice, finished top.   Make sure you're folding towards the inside of the burlap.

 

Set your sewing machine to a zigzag stitch with your regular stitch length of 1-2 and sew around the three sides of your bag.

 

Now turn your bag right-side out and take a look.  I originally thought I wanted a square "tote bag" look, but decided it was just too boxy.

 So I turned it inside-out again and rounded out the sides with the sewing machine and trimmed the edges.  Much nicer, I think.

 

Here's the part that's kind-of clever.  Because I'm an instant-gratification kind of girl when it comes to crafts, I make do with what I have sometimes just to get a project done.  Case in point.  I had no actual leather purse handles to use (which I would have preferred), so I made my own handles.  I just cut three strips of burlap that were just slightly longer than the straps I wanted.  Then I laid then on top of each other and sewed them together as seen above, again with the zigzag stitch.  I then braided them.  Do all of that again to make your second handle. 

Note: For added strength, you should sew up the sides of each strip (make them about 1" or more in width) before you sew them all together.  That way, your burlap won't fray to the point of ripping eventually after carrying around your purse contents because you know you've got a heavy purse.  I didn't do this, and my handles need some repair.

 

Once you've finished braiding your first handle, hold on to the end of it, and sew it to the other end of the same side of your purse.  Just eyeball it like I do or use a measuring tape for accurate placement.  Do the same for your other handle.

 

I like the frayed look, so I pulled some extra pieces out of the bottom of the straps below the stitching.

 If you want to make a flower just like the one shown, go here to view my tutorial for it, and just use burlap instead of felt. Now just hot glue your flower to the front (making sure not to glue it to the other side as well), and you're done.  You've made yourself a beautiful, new bag in about 30 minutes or less out of stuff you already had.

Well, done!

Time to watch Martha and have a Coke!

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