Burlap(ping) Around

I accidentally jumped on the burlap bandwagon. When I moved my queen bed downstairs into the master bedroom, it was so girly and pretty that it was little girl and borderline virginal. I'm obsessed with layering beyond what makes sense, so I decided some natural fibers via burlap would add some texture and maturity to the bed, until I can change the accent colors and put the bold navy on the bed.

 

 

The fabric/craft store I had a 50% coupon for only had two colors, so this is a little darker than what I wanted, but it works fine. Also, I did not care for the attitude from the woman at the store. She asked me what I was making with all this burlap, and I said I was making a bed skirt. Fabric-cutting expert lady wrinkled her nose at how scratchy it would be, and I offered to her the obvious - nobody sleeps on their bed skirt.

  I read at least six blogs about how to wash burlap before using it. Here's what ultimately worked for me: three yards at a time, half the regular amount of liquid detergent, splash of bleach, half the regular amount of fabric softener, washed on the delicate setting in cold water. I washed it twice before put it in the dryer with three softener sheets on the delicate setting. Immediately taking it out of the dryer, it looked like this...  

 

...and knowing what the end result needed to look like, I almost threw the whole cut of burlap in the garbage. A lot of the bloggers said to iron on a medium setting with not a lot of steam. Do not listen to these people. They want you to die ironing. Not only did I iron mine on high will full steam, I also sprayed the section I was about to iron with water from a squirt bottle.


The top is fully ironed with spray and steam. Bottom left is steam only. Bottom right is no iron.

It is also important to cut burlap correctly. The long edges are stitched so they do not unravel. To cut the burlap, you'll want to gently pull a strand from stitch to stitch, then cut in the space left.

 

Pulling a strand through (check out my pants)

Then cut straight across this line.

You will find that the cut edges will fray alarmingly in the washing and drying, so you will have to do this process on either side to stop the unraveling. So you will cut it this way on either end - stitch to stitch - and the horizontally down the center, because you only need half the width of the fabric to make the right drop on the skirt.

 

 

When I got my pieces cut, I needed to figure out how much drop I wanted, or whether I wanted the skirt to pool on the floor. The folded part you see in this picture was folded under the long piece when it came time to actually pin the skirt. (Also, the nekkider you can be doing this project, the better. Burlap fibers stick to EVERYTHING. See black yoga pant legs.)

 

I opted for these twist pins for attaching to the box spring. I've seen staples, duck tape, tacks, and nothing but the weight of the mattress. It's safe with this house that contains a menagerie that something sturdy but easily removed hold the burlap in.

 

 

I did not even remove the mattress to attach the skirt. I lifted the mattress enough with my hands to twist the fabric. I started by attaching at the top corner and the bottom corner, then made my first pleat in the middle.

 

 

I wanted something between a box pleat and a fully-gathered skirt, so I did five pleats on each side and four at the bottom. The bed still has the white box-pleat bedskirt under the burlap, partly because I did not want to take the mattress off and partly to help the burlap skirt have fullness.

 

 

There is a footboard on my bed, so the most difficult part of this project was the two corners where the footboard attaches. It took a couple extra pins at each corner, but definitely provides better coverage and more fullness than the plain white skirt. A queen mattress is 60" by 80", so I bought six yards of burlap to allow for shrinking and trimming the frays.

 

 

It is not flawless, but it's burlap, so it shouldn't be. It just makes me more frustrated and eager to get out of this bedroom and into something fresh, with new colors, additional textures, and different accent furniture, that does not reek of failed marriage. This nightstand I painted last month will be the bedside table for this bed in my rental room. My plan is still to replace the white matelassé shams with navy accent pillows and put a monogrammed pillow in the front. I have a dark horse pillow that is drawing me in, though...

 

 Modern Green Giraffe / Navy Willow / Navy Ikat Dot / JA's Happy Chic Greek Key