Clumsy Crafter

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Tutorial: How to Cut Burlap in a Straight Line

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Crafts with Burlap are huge right now but have you ever tried to cut burlap in a straight line? Or have you ever bought burlap at the store and then got it home to find out that it is so jagged and misshaped that it is now too small for your project?
Cutting Burlap with straight edges is easy, all you need is to know how to do it.  Start by finding the size that you need. This piece of burlap had already been cut so it did not have selvages (the woven edges) however, if yours does have it then you need to snip the selvage where you need to cut the burlap at on both sides of the fabric. Just make a simple cut that goes from the outside edge of the selvage all the way through it, stopping at the border between the selvage and burlap.
Now, at whatever length you need, find one string or thread of the burap and start to pull it out. Don’t yank it because you’ll break it, just pull with an even force.
 The rest of the fabric will start to buckle and gather, this is ok… just keep pulling.
Pull the string all the way out and then you’l be left with a channel that you can cut straight through to make an even cut. Viola’. Now you have a straight line for your Burlap edges. Most importantly, you can politely share this tip when having your burlap cut at the fabric store. It will assure that you and the peope that come behind you, always get home with the amount of burlap that you paid for. Don’t forget to follow along for more tips and tricks! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or subscribe via Email or RSS feed! 

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Comments

  3. Great hint. Just like cutting along the line. Thank you for sharing. Oops — I don't see my link to the Boardwalk Bragfest. No big deal. The party is over now, but when you next link up, would you please display it? pretty please? 🙂

  4. This is a good reminder. I do this for fancy fabric sometimes when perfect evenness is important. Not sure I would have thought to do it for burlap, but you are right about it being hard to cut!
    Kathy

  5. Great idea! I made a burlap table runner last week and had to get soo close to the fabric to make sure I was cutting in a straight line, now I will use this tip the next time I need to cut burlap. =) Thanks!

    • I learned it from an older woman at the fabric store who was teaching the young girl cutting fabric how to cut it! Thanks for commenting.

  11. With a sevege, do you mean to cut it off before you pull the thread or just clip it to the point you can pull a thread

  12. As I have just found some great door hangers made with burlap this Pinterest item could not have been more perfectly timed. I will keep this in mind tomorrow when I go and buy some burlap!

    • Don’t forget they sell Burlap Ribbon now too! It’s great for making bows out of burlap for wreath hangers.

  13. I learned to cut burlap when I worked at ClothWorld as my first job at 16. When I get burlap to have cut….no one cuts it right and when I say do you not know how? They tell me yes they just don’t have time that is why they give us…1 1/2 in extra….it really doesn’t take more time and honestly if others were to buy it they would want it cut properly too! Sorry customer service now days huh. Also that eyeing the cut on other fabric…can make a huge difference in a lot of things.

  14. Do you have any suggestions on how to get wrinkles out of burlap? I washed it and it is so wrinkled. I’m going to attempt to make a table runner. Thanks for your help.

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