A few years ago, I fell in love with antique european grain sacks. I bought my first one at a flea market for $20, but I mostly made DIY versions out of drop cloths and paint. Over the years I’ve splurged here and there on authentic antique European grain sacks, feeling like the durable hemp fabric with its nubby texture, stripes, monograms and beautiful patina of age were worth it. It’s now become my favorite fabric for upholstery, pillow covers, sewing projects and to use as table runners or just folded on a shelf.
Here are a few things I’ve used grain sacks for recently…
And I send my scraps to Ann and she makes me these…
I don’t live in an area where European grain sacks are plentiful, so I buy most of them online. I put together a collection on eBay of some that recently caught my eye. You can see the collection HERE and a sneak peek…
For more design inspiration, follow my other curated collections on eBay.
Disclosure: This is a paid featured post. My eBay Collections were curated as part of my collaboration with eBay #followitfindit and Style Coalition.
13 Responses
Great taste!!!
love the foot stool! is there a tutorial on how you made the cushion cover?
blessings,
aimee
Yep, you can find it here.. http://www.freshamerican.com/02how-to/13451
These are beautiful, love the projects you did with them! You’ve inspired me to bid on some at ebay. I’m digging the red one!
~Siggie
As always, you know what you like and what you like is always nice. I found a remnant of fabric (1 1/2 yards) for $5.00. I’m sure it’s upholstery fabric. but, not too stiff. I don’t know what type of fabric it is. It looks like a heavy grain sack in texture and color. I plan to cover a stool, I think I could use the rest to paint a subject and frame it. Thanks for the ideas.
I’m always conflicted when I see old or vintage linens cut up and repurposed. I love the look of purses made out of vintage tablecloths, but hope they were sewn using only usable parts of an otherwise stained or torn tablecloth. Same with the grain sacks, old doilies, I guess all older linens. I alway wonder if they’ll get so scarce there won’t be any intact pieces for future generations which sounds weird. I wonder if only small pieces of linens will be found in the future. I want to use some of my old linens for sewing projects, but then just can’t cut them. See, I’m confilcted…
Yes, I’ve had that same struggle and there are some I don’t cut up. When I do cut them up, I see that I’m using something beautiful that is no longer functional (a sack), to make something that is functional like a chair, pillow, etc.
I tried to see your ebay collections but each link I clicked on gave me nothing. 🙁
I tried to see your ebay collections but each link I clicked on gave me nothing.
Nor could I!
It looks like a technical problem with eBay. I’ll look into it.
Do you know where curtains like yours can be found? I know there were some in a curated collection you did some time back, are you going to do another one with the blue and white curtains again? Thanks:)
I love the grain sacks too. The texture is soooo wonderful.
Cindy
I love the blue striped grain sack material but cannot find it anywhere. Can you tell where I might find it? If you have had it for sale, I must always miss it.
Love your decorating style, have your book and have even painted a little with MMSP.
Thanks for all your inspiration!