Maya*made's Coffee Sack Workshop

I had the privilege of taking maya*made's "Anatomy of a Coffee Sack" workshop. Maya gave me all the tools I needed to make a version of the medium round bucket that she sells in her Etsy shop, designsmayamade. When I got home, I literally wanted to call up my mother and say, "Look, Ma, I made a burlap bucket!" I'm so proud of my little creation!


Maya did a wonderful job explaining how she chooses coffee sacks for their weave and graphics. One sack that she had carefully selected had such a fine weave and fun image and graphics that it could have been framed as a funky piece of textile art. I think that's part of the appeal of Maya's coffee sack buckets--they're a form of found art that is utilitarian and upcycled to boot.

To get me started working with the burlap, Maya had me cut out a plain rectangle and sew it up into one of her popular garlic sacks. As I learned, burlap is not an easy material to cut and sew. For one thing, little fibers fly everywhere as you cut the fabric, and the edges easily fray. Neat, it isn't, but an oilcloth tablecloth under our workspace kept the fibers contained.

Maya shared several important tips for how she achieves such a polished result from this rustic fabric. For example, it was quite amazing to see how the burlap was transformed with a simple topstitching into an almost sculptural vessel. (Maya is going to add a garlic stencil to my sack, so I'll show that once I get it home.)

I've discovered that there is something very satisfying working with this rugged material. Jute, the fiber that burlap is woven from, has a very high tensile strength compared to other natural fibers. It lends itself to sacking material that can carry many pounds of coffee beans or other products. The durable fabric withstands the wear and tear as coffee sacks get tossed about onto loading docks and forklifted onto ships. The fairly open weave of the fabric allows air to flow through it. The natural fiber is moisture-resistant, keeping mildew at bay.

These qualities make burlap a utilitarian fabric. Yet, for all its rough-and-tumble qualities, there is also a delicacy to it. Held up to the light, burlap appears almost gauzy as it filters the sun's rays. The burlap bucket I made, for all its double-stitched durability, is remarkably lightweight. It recalls the delicacy of its flax-made cousin, linen.


I don't think I would have gotten past the messy fibers if Maya hadn't shown me a straightforward way to work with burlap. She was the perfect teacher, offering just the right amount of guidance when I needed it. She also let me blunder along on her sewing machine without hovering over me more than I needed. Lucky me that I got a chance to preview the class that Maya will be teaching again at Squam Art Workshops in New Hampshire in early June.


Best of all, of course, was the chance to have some relaxing crafting time with my friend in the light-filled barn studio. Now that's what I call great therapy!