Vintage French grain sacks are SO desirable…and therefore pricey if you’re lucky enough to even find one. But that quintessential look- either the offset stripes in red & blue, or faded print/text- can be replicated with some crafty ingenuity. So, I headed out to the thrift store with a defined agenda- find something in the linens section that could pass as linen/burlap/grain sack material.
Enter: This Lonely Curtain!
Uninspiring?…or just the opposite?
Once I had the right fabric in hand, I had to decide what my faux grain sack idea would be used for. Since I still had some leftover lavender from this older project and I was already in a French frame of mind, sachets seemed like an obvious choice! This post contains affiliate links for your crafting convenience.
So, I assembled a few things to recreate the grain sack look…such as rubber stamps and soft fabric ink.
Let’s re-do this curtain’s purpose, ok?
I’m not an overly accomplished rubber stamper, so I practiced a bit- sponging on a touch of fabric ink and testing it on the curtain fabric (which I had previously laundered).
Easy does it…
To recreate the classic look of faded grain sack stripes, I cut out matching sets of 4” and 4½” curtain fabric scraps. Then, I cut thin, even strips of painter’s tape and pressed them carefully on the squares. In between the squares of fabric, I placed a piece of tin foil to keep the ink from bleeding through.
Ready for some grain sack stripes?
After effectively stenciling the fabric ink between the pieces of tape (using as little ink as possible), I let everything dry for several hours. When I removed the strips of tape and foil barriers, I had dozens of perfect little faux grain sacks!
Ta-da! Aren’t they cute?
Even though I wasn’t planning on washing my stamped/painted fabric, I still heat-set the fabric ink by layering a paper towel in between the squares and pressing them with a hot, dry iron.
Just as insurance…
Using my sewing machine, I then stitched all around a set of fabric squares, leaving a healthy ¾” margin along each side and small 1” opening on one of the sides.
Practicing my straight stitches…
With handy craft funnel in hand, I poured in plenty of dried lavender blossoms until my little grain-sack-sachet-to-be was pleasantly plump.
Mmmm…lavender…
To finish everything off, I stitched the open hole closed (carefully lining up my stitches to make it as seamless-looking as possible), and then took my pinking shears to the raw edges to clean them up.
Pinked edges make everything better…
And then voilà- adorable faux grain sack lavender sachets! They are even cuter in person…I used so little fabric ink that some of the curtain fabric shows through the stripes…making it look woven in. And my stamping inexperience lent itself to a vintage look- uneven stamp pressure looks like uneven fading! HA!
How CUTE!
Perfect for dresser drawers and packing away winter sweaters in a couple of months…and all from a lonely curtain from the thrift store.
In typical Sadie fashion, I made WAY too many…so I’m selling a few of these in my Etsy shop if you’d rather purchase than make yourself.
Craft on!
S
PIN ME!
The post Fake It ‘Til You Make… Grain Sack Sachets appeared first on Sadie Seasongoods.
