Begone, Tacky Topsy-Turvy Planters!

Back in this entry I gave a peek of my cool-looking burlap-covered buckets.

Now whooooooo's ready for a tutorial?!

It started out when I saw this pin on Pinterest:

Here's the original post, BUT

...it's in another language.  One with umlauts.
So even if there was a tutorial there, I couldn't read it.

SO.

I kept looking at at the photo, trying to figure out the dimensions of the "bag" these
buckets were in,  when I had a revelation:

it's not a bag at all!  It's a TUBE!

Which means that making one is super-easy, even if you don't sew a bit.

On

to

the 

tutorial.

To start with, you'll need a bucket.  If you don't have an old detergent bucket,
places like Home Depot sell five gallon buckets for about three dollars.

I also heard that doughnut shops get their shortening
 or something in big buckets,
and will give you their empties.  
Let me know if that's true!

(I'm only here for the buckets.  Honest.)

I cut off the handles with a wire cutter; 

they wouldn't be accessible, anyway.

Don't forget to drill some holes in the bottom!

For your supplies,
you'll need to buy some rope or twine.  I got 1/4" sisal rope.

If you don't have a sewing machine, buy a tapestry needle. 
I got a size "13".

To figure out how much burlap to buy,
measure around the widest part, and add about three inches.
 I think my buckets were about 39" around,
 so I needed  at least 42" of  40" wide burlap.

If you don't have a measuring tape, just use a piece of yarn
or hold the fabric around and mark it with your pinched fingers!
That's what I did the first time.

Sewing info!
Fabric usually comes in widths of 40" or 60".
  You'll be using the 40" wide.

Get a little extra for wiggle room, though; 
a yard and a quarter would be a good amount.

You might want to cut the fabric a little longer at first, 

to make sure it fits right.

It's a lot easier to tighten up the tube

than it is to pick out the seam and make the tube bigger.

 You want it to be snug, but not too tight.

Now you're ready to go!

To make a nice edge to cut/sew, pull a thread out of the burlap

ACROSS the width of the burlap...

...then cut along that empty space. 
 Repeat the thread-pulling/cutting at your desired width.

Now fold the rectangle in half so those CUT EDGES are together.

^^^^^ This is the cut edges, together. ^^^^^

You're going to sew along here.

If you have a sewing machine, go to town!

If not, it is SUPER EASY to just sew with your big fat tapestry needle.

What should you use for thread?

Why, you can just use that thread you pulled out for your cutting line!

If it broke, just pull another one off the edge.

Sew about a half inch away from the edge. 

(I used a bigger seam here; you don't need to.)

Once you've sewn along that edge, 

you're going to FOLD the tube down on itself,

so the seamed part is on the inside.

This is how it will look on the top.

Now you have a tube, a couple inches bigger around than your bucket,

and several inches longer.

The top of the tube is the folded edge,

and the bottom is the two other "loose" edges.

Take that tube to your bucket, 

and pull it up like you're pulling on a pair of comfy jeans.

Have the nice FOLDED edge on the BOTTOM.

Once the tube is pulled up,
 roll it down a few times for a decorative folded edge.

Break out your rope/twine...

...wrap it around a couple of times, and tie a bow.

As the Frenchies say,

VOILA!

A couple of tips:

the first time I did this, I gathered the bottom and put it underneath.

AAAAIIIIIEEEE!!!!

The water wicked up and made the burlap all moldy.  Yuck!

So don't do that.  It looks perfectly fine to just have the edge of the tube even with the bottom of the bucket.

Also, put that bucket up on bricks or something!  It helps with drainage,

and will keep the moldy thing from happening.

Okay.

ALL DONE,

I thought.

But...

you know how when you fix up one area of your house...

the rest starts to look extra-shabby in comparison?

Yeah, that's how I started to feel about those icky,
 faded-green Topsy-Turvy planters.

Anyhoo, in a flash of BRILLIANCE,

I realized I could do the same burlap thing with them!!

The only thing different is I used less burlap.

It was a bit trickier with the Topsy-Turvy

I was using in the way it was actually designed to be used,
since I had to pull it over the top where it was hanging from a hook.

But I asked the Sweet Man to hold it up,

and I slipped the tube over the top.

I did gather the bottom edge on the Topsy-Turvy

that had the tomato plant growing out of the bottom;

the green lid thingy meant that I had to make the tube pretty big.

It looked way too baggy before I gathered.

Lookin' good, yeah?