Sewing with Burlap and Hessian

I've been working on some special project with a friend that involve sewing with Burlap or Hessian. The first project has turned out wonderful and i wanted to share some of my tips for sewing and using Hessian so you will see how fantastic the material can be. Here are my top tips for working with Burlap and Hessian.

Hessian is heavy and frays a lot, it also sheds tiny wisps of hessian threads that can get everywhere and in your clothes, it can be very itchy! I recommend choosing an outfit to wear for the whole project, for me that was a pair of PJ's (of course) and they got covered in the little Hessian threads.

For stitching on Hessian you can use an 80/12 needle because it's a loose weave however i do recommend a heavy duty denim needle as it will stay sharpened longer and sew better for longer.

As Hessian frays i zig zag stitched everything, You can easily straight stitch but if you want everything to stay i recommend zig zag stitch.

Moving slower when sewing hessian will give you better results, Hessian moves in wonderful ways because it's a loose weave and heavy, take your time to pin and fold as as you sew. Ironing Hessian and using clips can help a lot.

Choose a thread that matches, it will hide all your sewing mistakes.

It's suppose to look crinkled, handmade and not quite straight. This was the hardest thing i needed to understand about Hessian and burlap especially when sewing beautiful quilting fabrics to the top of it! It has folds, which you can iron but it will wrinkle and may not sit perfect. That's ok! It's suppose to look vintage!

Tidy up after. Because of all of those little threads your machine, workspace and your floor will need a good clean. Change your needle and give your machine a good clean after each hessian project.

This hopscotch sewing project turned out fantastic and my friend is really happy with it.

I would love to know what you are working on, come and share with me in the facebook group.

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