If you hadn’t figured it out from my blog name, I love burlap. It’s versatile yet inexpensive, simple yet classic, and can fit in with any decor style, from modern to farmhouse, shabby chic to contemporary. Recently, I’ve been smitten with the contrast of rugged burlap and sweet ruffles. And so, with an ottoman gifted to me from my mother-in-law, I went to work!
Materials needed:
an ottoman
about a yard of burlap, depending on the size of your ottoman
thin, cotton fabric for the ruffle, maybe a quarter of a yard
any cheap fabric (I used muslin) to line the ottoman with (Only needed if your ottoman, like mine, had already been covered and you are too lazy to pull off what is there. Burlap does have small holes in it, so a neutral base is best. Any dark, bright fabric will probably show through the burlap)
glue gun or staple gun
Step 1: If needed, cover ottoman with any plain, neutral-colored cotton fabric. You can see the original red, green and yellow fabric underneath my fabric, but it doesn’t show when covered with the burlap.
Then, once you have your lengths of fabric creased and ready to go, go to your sewing machine, lengthen your machine stitch to the longest setting, and sew a line down the length of your fabric, about 1/4 inch from the end. I set my machine to 6 stitches per inch. Again, not sure if that is at all the correct way to do it, but it worked for me. You do not want to backstitch on either end!! Make sure to leave long threads on each end…see following two pictures. This is important as you do not want to start pulling threads on one end and end up pulling them through the ruffle at the other end (I hope that makes sense).
Once you have sewn down the length of your fabric on all three pieces (or however many you decide to do), start at one end and gently pull the threads and slide the fabric down the threads as you are pulling. This will cause the fabric to ruffle. I stop when I have about half the fabric ruffled, tie off the two threads, and repeat for the other end. Play with it until the ruffles are as tight or loose as you want them!
Now the next step should be to sew a regular stitch along the gathered edge to hold the ruffle in place. I skipped this step, as I knew I would be sewing the ruffle to the burlap shortly. You may not want to skip this step if you think the ottoman will get heavy use or you plan on washing the slipcover often.
Step 6: Pin ruffle along burlap slipcover right sides together. Using a regular stitch, stitch all the way around slipcover.
Well done…love the ruffle on the bottom. and I like that it is not permanent and can be changed easily…I'll remember this!!
very cute simply perfect . timberstoys on etsy
http://www.timberstoys.etsy.com
I love the new look of your ottoman. I might have to try that! Cute blog, BTW.
I love the new look of your ottoman. I might have to try that! Cute blog, BTW.
I love the new look of your ottoman. I might have to try that! Cute blog, BTW.
I love the new look of your ottoman. I might have to try that! Cute blog, BTW.
I love the new look of your ottoman. I might have to try that! Cute blog, BTW.
I love the new look of your ottoman. I might have to try that! Cute blog, BTW.
Too cute! I may give this a try myself:) thanks for the inspiration.
Love the cover, the ruffle is the perfect finishing touch. Thanks for visiting today, please come again.
Your ottoman is so adorable! I just love the sweet little ruffle! Thanks so much for visiting,and for your nice comments!
I think it looks wonderful. Great job!
I share your love of burlap, gal! Your ottoman is just lovely! You did a great job! My ottoman is very large and opens to reveal all of our board games, so won't be making one of these! At least not yet!
Thanks for sharing this awesome idea!
HUGS,
Becky
What a cute project! Your directions are great. Now I just wish I had an ottoman to cover.
That is so cute! I love how it looks and I think your directions are pretty clear. Stopping by from Metamorphosis Monday–where I submitted a link to my latest burlap project!
Oh, how cute your project turned out! Love the combo of burlap and sweet ruffles! I've been making lots of pillows using muslin and burlap, now I think I need to do one of these ottomans. You are so clever.
The ottomon is wonderful! Love the burlap and the ruffles.
Hugs, Sherry
ahhh…it's divine! i love burlap too and that ruffle is sooo sweet!
Stopping by from Metamorphosis Monday! How cool is that! Love the ruffles with the burlap!
That turned out so cute, and cottage like.
I have to say THANK YOU…I purchased two wing back chairs with ottoman and I wanted to use burlap. I just really didn't know how to go about it. Now I just need to figure out the chairs.
SO cute!! I love burlap. I never thought of putting it on an ottoman but I love it!
Thank you so much for the inspiration! I had an old ottoman that was almost going to get sold at a yard sale. My hubby told me to hang on to it and I am so glad I did. I made my own burlap and ruffle slipcover for it. Here's the link if you want to check it out: http://marievilla.blogspot.com/2010/09/my-new-reading-spot.html
ABsolutely adorable and elegant and gorgeous!!!
I'm just finding your blog….love your style!