feedsacks

I spent some time yesterday washing my fabric-related purchases from the weekend. I did not iron anything, however, because it's was 90 degrees in my house! We're finally getting some hot weather here and it actually feels like summer... and then some :)

Here's one of the feedsacks I found at the show. I love the lime green flowers and I think I may have buttons that match them exactly so it's going to be fun to work with. If I can cut it, that is.



You see, this feedsack is still in bag form. In five years of collecting them I've only come across two or three that are still intact and I really have to think about whether I want to cut this. But it does provide a rare opportunity to show you what a feedsack originally looked like.





Each sack was made by folding the fabric in half with right sides together and then sewing (with heavy string) along the open side and curving around to the bottom. The sack shown here measures 37" x 21-1/2" so, when opened up, it will be 43" wide. When removed, the braid-like stitching leaves a row of small holes all around the edge. And that's one way to determine whether something is a feedsack —look for that rows of holes.



Here's another one from my collection that's quite small—about the size of a 10-pound bag of flour. It has the same stitching.





Feedsacks also have a unique texture and feel to the cloth. Once you see and handle them enough you can usually spot them pretty easily. And I love how some still have that clean, sweet farm smell—like hay—from the grains they once held. Sometimes that doesn't wash out—I have several feedsacks that, when ironed, release the scent again and again.