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From the Tobacco barn to fashion

1/3/2015

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Oh Lucky Day!!! My friend Mike was at The ReUse Warehouse in Durham and called to let me know that they had a great stock of burlap fertilizer bags that had been pulled from an old tobacco barn. Oh! By the way if you love reclaimed wood and metal check out Mike's website http://www.mikedulude.com/
So I went down there and got covered in all kinds of filth picking out the best bags. They looked a little rough so I knew i'd have to run them through the washer. Bandit wasn't wild about giving up the bags to the washing machine...and frankly, my dryer wasn't wild about it either.
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Having to clean out the lint tray every five minutes was a labor of love people... not to mention the ironing... oh the ironing.. But these bags are worth it!
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Since the bags are pretty old I had to really think about which parts I would be able to use. I love that "Camp's" wording but it was too far gone. Little holes are easy to handle with some more burlap and ModPodge though. Of course I zoomed right in on that eagle to be on the flap of my bag. Sweet!

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One thing that was super cool about this bag is that this company, Camp's Chemical Corporation, is still in business in Roxboro, NC (and has been for 80 years). I love seeing history in textiles.

I wanted to be sure the bag would be strong despite it's age, so I had to use something to give it some stability. Sewing purists would probably go for interfacing, but I wanted this thing strong. I mean, super duper, "10 lbs of forgotten change in the bottom of your bag and your dog on top" strong. So I actually attached it to some remnant vinyl that I had. This worked out great for this bag too since I made it with pleats and it held them nicely.
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Sometimes the hardest decision I have to make in designing a bag is choosing the lining material. I love it when someone opens a bag up and says "OOOOOOOOH!" I do get a little funky with those fabrics sometimes. But this bag needed something a little more subdued, I think. You wouldn't want to open this piece of history and then see some funky new fabric inside. So I went with a basic denim. I did of course put a little pop in the pockets though :) Can't keep the funky completely out of the bag!
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Do Coffee Shipping Bags smell like coffee?

12/24/2014

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Absolutely! (not) I wish they did. I get this question a lot, and try to stop foks before they smell my handbags to try to find that wonderful coffee aroma. Unfortunately for all the coffee lovers out there, they ship the coffee  beans green, or unroasted. I know this since I find some in every bag that I cut open, trapped in the seams and corners.

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Many do not realize how big these bags are before the sewing magic happens. They hold 150 lbs of coffee beans. Think about how light those little beans are! That's a lot of java.

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These front and back views of a bag show some great graphics and lettering. I love the back and how it looks like they couldn't decide on the year :) I wonder if that makes it rare! (I digress)  Obviously the front of this bag is truly amazing, so I grabbed the scissors and got busy. I know it looks a little funky all cut up, but Shhhhh just go with it. After some intense ironing and sewing it will all work out. Wondering what I do with my scrap burlap? Well, if they are super duper scrappy and I can't really make them into anything else, they go into a bag and I break them out in the spring to line my flower beds in the yard. For this bag I had a few of those little scraps, and also the entire back of the bag! The big pieces that I can still use get stored in the sweatshop. Ok, so it is a little messy. I've had to rummage around in there a lot lately for some custom orders...
With our burlap dealt with, we need some lining for our bag (right) and I have to say that I was VERY tempted to leave the "wrong side" showing for the lining. (that would be the purple background) It wouldn't be the first time I've done that. But the outside didn't have the right colors to justify that, so I went with the black background "right" side.

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See there? I told you with a little ironing and sewing those pleats would be A-OK.  The "right side" lining turned out nice also!


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December 21st, 2014

12/21/2014

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You know how you meet someone and they have everything you could ever want, and ever other person after that gets compared (and can't really measure up)? Yes, it's like that. Ever since Carol from Nature's Way in Hillsborough called me to see if I would be interested in buying some vintage seed sacks that she had acquired I haven't been the same. These bags are amazing! They are a part of USA textile history.  They are rare. Once you acquire one you may never find another. Your favorite pair of jeans or khakis that has been so worn that they are softer than a baby's butt have nothing on the feel of these bags.
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Our country starting converting from these cotton bags to plastic bags post World War II until they were totally phased out in the 1960's. So to find any now, that means someone actually stored them and didn't throw them out or leave the in the barn to be destroyed by critters. On top of that, women used to go through some crazy, multi-level process to remove the ink from the bags so they could be used to make clothing for the family, curtains, etc.
I had to have my own, and lucky for me I found one in my favorite color green.
Gorgeous, right?? I'm ready to leave the house and sport this immediately. Check back with me as I find more vintage bags to work with :)
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