Stitching on Burlap: A Painting & Sewing Experience for Children

One type of art skill that I haven’t been the best at consistently teaching in my classroom is sewing.  I was reminded of how you can sew on burlap after seeing some painted and stitched leaves at my daughter’s school.  My third/fourth grade classes were often asking me if they could sew and I already had a lot of yarn and a roll of burlap at school.

I wanted to share this idea with you quickly without a whole lot of commentary.  Basically, the burlap rectangles were cut from the roll.  The students chose their subject matter (many chose holiday or winter themes).  They painted their designs on the burlap using tempera paints.  We used Sax VersaTemp.  After the painted designs were dry, we used those blue plastic sewing needles with yarn to stitch borders and embellishments.  Some of the students were more skilled than others, so the students that found it easier did more sewing.

Five burlap squares with intricate embroidered designs, including a wreath, penguin, hot cocoa, Christmas tree, and penguin in a hat.

Five holiday-themed stitched designs on burlap featuring a cheerful snowman, festive tree, angel, penguin, and a cozy hot drink mug.

Have you ever sewn on burlap?  Have you taught a similar project?  Share in the comments!

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11 Comments

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  1. I love this idea! I teach sewing classes pretty regularly, and we’ve done some sewing on burlap but never combined it with painting. This is perfect for my mixed age classes since it allows students to take it as far as they like/are able.

  2. I’ve used burlap for some simple sewing/weaving, usually with my third graders. We would pull out strings and replace them by weaving through with colored yarns. The kids always LOVED this; my only problem is that I can’t stand the way burlap sheds! It makes me itchy!!

  3. I forgot to write in my comments above, though, that I never thought of painting on the burlap! They look really cute! Does the tempera stay well on the burlap or does it flake?

  4. I did this project with my third graders and it turned out beautifully! Thank you for sharing this amazing project!