Sunday, March 3, 2013

Pottery Barn Burlap Easter Flag Knock Off

Pottery Barn's spring catalog is out and they have a burlap bunny flag on page 13 that they are selling for $39 that I knew I could totally make for a few dollars worth of materials I had on hand.
{Pottery Barn}
A few months back I got a 60% off coupon for any full price item at JoAnn's and I used it to buy a bolt of burlap.  I live about 45 minutes from the nearest JoAnn's so I thought it would be best to buy the bolt so I wouldn't have to keep making trips for projects.  It is normally $3.99 per yard, so 60% off brings it to $1.60 yard and I used less than a yard for the flag.  

I started by searching bunny silhouettes online.  I found one close to the original and I sized it to be 23" tall by 14" wide.  It fit on six pieces of paper (two across, three down).  I was able to set the photo with transparent color which basically let me change all the black to white, but left an outline of the bunny.  This saved me a ton of ink! I also drew in a tail since the silhouette I found didn't have one.

The PB flag has the bunny in a white color burlap.  I didn't have that, but I did have a cream canvas material I bought at a garage sale. They were homemade curtains and I got a bunch of panels for $3.  I used less than one panel for the bunny.  I just pinned the paper template to it and cut it out.

The PB flag measures 30" wide x 38" tall.  The burlap is 44" and I cut a piece off at 28" because 30" seemed too wide for the bunny I made.  I ironed the edges and gave it a 1/2" seam on both sides.


Next I chose to stencil Happy Easter in my 3" Arial font letters in a cream color close to the canvas fabric color.  I used latex paint as this is what I have on hand for painting furniture.  This part of the process took the longest as I didn't want to do one letter at a time and take a chance it would come out all wonky.

First I stenciled the words on paper with a black marker and cut the paper as close to the words as possible.  To find the center of the words and the burlap I folded the paper in half, folded the burlap in half and placed the fold of the words on the fold of the burlap and pinned them down.  (The photo above shows the words on top of the burlap, but I had to actually pin them UNDER the burlap to be able to paint on top of them.)  I then propped the burlap up on a piece of glass and used the flashlight app on my iPhone to create a light box to find them to place the stencil on top.  This was the best way I could figure out how to do the entire word at the same time and keep the letters level and spaced properly.

After the words were stenciled, I was able to position the bunny applique on the burlap above the words and pin it down to sew.

I haven't sewn an applique since 7th grade sewing class, so I had to check out a few YouTube videos for some techniques and I was confident I could do it with a straight stitch.  I went very, very slow especially around the curves.  At the curves you have to stop, make sure the needle is down, lift the presser foot and turn the material to follow the shape.  I even hand cranked so I had more control.  I was able to go around the whole applique with one stitch!  I was totally prepared to have to make some fixes, but since I went really slow, it worked out.

After that was done, I ironed and hemmed the bottom and created a rod pocket at the top. But instead of using an actual rod, I used a stick from my yard and tied jute string to it to hang it from.

Didn't it come out great?  I am so proud of myself for being able to get it done and not having too much trouble in the process.  Even though it only cost me a few dollars using materials I had on hand, it did take quite a few hours (more than I care to admit) over the course of three days to get done.  

When I went to get the link to Pottery Barn for the flag, it said it is already no longer available!  So if you want it, you have no choice but to make it!  Or you can pay me $39 to make it, but I can't promise I could get it done by Easter--ha!  If anyone wants the bunny template I used, leave me a comment and I can email it to you in a pdf file.


Linking to:
I Heart Naptime
Life On Lakeshore Drive  
Navy Wifey Peters
DIY Showoff  
I Should Be Mopping The Floor
Classy Clutter
Craft-O-Maniac
Homemaker On A Dime
The Shabby Creek Cottage--6 Days of Spring
Thrifty Decor Chick
Coastal Charm
Today's Creative Blog
Kammy's Korner  
Kathe With An E
Not Just a Housewife 
Elizabeth & Co.
The DIY Dreamer
{Primp}
Southern Lovely
Fluster Buster
House of Hepworths
A Creative Princess  
Beyond The Picket Fence
Embracing Change  
Shabby Creek Cottage
I Gotta Create
TwelveOEight
The Shabby Nest
Liz Marie
Crafty Scrappy Happy
Redoux
Sassy Little Lady
The Best Blog Recipes
Six Sisters' Stuff
Funky Junk Interiors
Mom On Timeout
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Featured by:
Knock Off Decor
Glamorous Bride
Embracing Change
Craft Gossip
TwelveOeight
Beyond The Picket Fence

34 comments:

  1. Wow! You did a fabulous job on it! I love the cost too!

    Visiting from DIY Show Off and looking forward to following you!

    Have a great day.
    Pam

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  2. This turned out terrific! Pinning.

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  3. You did a fantastic job! I love your knock off flag.
    KC

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  4. This is adorable! I think I'll try this. Visiting from Kammy's Korner Trash 2 Treasures.

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  5. You did a great job, it's adorable! Thanks for sharing!!

    Fotini

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  6. Wow! You did a great job! You can't tell this is homemade. I'm your newest follower!
    Jamie www.somuchbetterwithage.com

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  7. Really cute. I love it. Classy.

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  8. This is so cute, just love the bunny. Thanks for linking up at our 6 days of spring party! Kelly (thelilypadcottage)

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  9. This is soooo cute! I would love for you to share it this week at the Pretty Things link party @ twelveOeight!!

    xo, Tanya
    http://twelveoeight.blogspot.com/2013/03/pretty-things-features-link-party-10.html

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  10. You've inspired me! I'd love to have the bunny template.

    heartstring@hot.rr.com

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  11. Love it!!!!!! Pinned:) Happy Easter!!http://www.sewsweetvintage.com/2013/03/brilliant-2013.html

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  12. Just wanted to let you know this adorable flag was featured on my blog today! Have a great weekend.

    http://glamorousbride.blogspot.com/2013/03/fab-pins-of-week_8.html

    Fotini

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  13. I would love to have the template!
    and your flag is so cute. hope mine turns out that pretty.

    imisstx at Comcast dot net

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  14. Would love the template! This is adorable, and I hope to finish it this weekend!
    Great job! Thanks so much!

    Terri Barton bartonsoap@comcast.net

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  15. Was just linking up at Sassy Little Lady's link party and saw your Burlap Bunny Flag and had to come and check it out. It's SO CUTE!

    I'd love for you to link up a few projects at my weekend link party going on right now too @The Weekend re-Treat!

    Hope to see you there!

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  16. I got all the materials to make this same flag as I also saw it at the PB catalog...what stopped me was how to copy the bunny since 1) I can't draw, 2) I don't have a fancy cricut machine...your solutions is genius, thanks so much for sharing...will give it a try!
    Came from Shauna's party at the Best Blog Recipe blog hop

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  17. What a great flag! I'm not much of a sewer but I bet I could do a stencil rabbit! (Found you through the Sassy Little Lady link party!)

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  18. It came out perfect. I love this bunny banner. Perfect Easter decoration.
    Ruth

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  19. Darling! I'm falling for Bunnies this spring.

    Thank you for partying with the Wildly Original Crowd.
    <3 Christina at I Gotta Create!

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  20. I so love this. Can you email me the pdf file? craftycatscorner@hotmail.com
    I blogged about this too!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I've put together a round up of bunny silhouette tutorials on Craft Gossip today and included your post. :) You can see it here
    http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/15-bunny-silhouette-crafts-for-easter/

    If you would like a Craft Gossip badge showing you've been featured, you can grab one here :)
    http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/grab-a-craft-gossip-button/

    Thanks for sharing your craftiness!

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  22. Why is it that the simple projects always take the longest? You did a great job!

    I'd love the template. You can email me at info@princesssplendor.com.

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  23. I saw that and loved it! Yours looks great, Have a great Easter!

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  24. I love this! I am so glad I found this, I have been wanting to make something like this and didn't have the pattern. Thanks for sharing!

    I am now following you.

    Cynthia at http://FeedingBig.com

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  25. What a pretty Easter flag! It looks beautiful, you did a great job!!!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Thanks for linking up this post to The Best Blog Recipe’s Weekend re-Treat #7!

    I know I’m running a little bit behind in pinning but I wanted to stop by and pin your image to My Link Parties Craft/DIY & Recipe Boards while I was here.

    Hope to see you link up again at the party this weekend!

    Shauna
    http://thebestblogrecipes.blogspot.com/
    http://ready2loseweight.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
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  29. I would LOVE to have the pdf template of the bunny!
    This is just the cutest little bunny flag!!! I am going to do my Easter decorations this year with painted white bunnies on burlap. (My husband brought home yards and yards of it that one of his dealers gave him.)
    Thank you sooo much for sharing your template and adorable idea and talent with us. Remarkable!
    My email is pbnana310@gmail.com.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Hi Susan,
    Your "bunny flag" is simply adorable! Also, what a great idea just buying a bolt of the burlap. I am sure it can be used for many projects. I would appreciate and say thank you in advance for the pdf template of the bunny. Thanks for your great inspiration! rstrom2@msn.com

    ReplyDelete
  31. Hello, Could I get the bunny template PDF? Thank you
    beanpac@pacbell.net

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thank you for this nice sharing. Great post.

    ReplyDelete

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