How to Make a Strawberry Pot Out of Burlap

Looking for a garden project or something for the kids to help with? Then, this may be the right project for you. 

Creating your own burlap strawberry pot, or plant sack in general, can be a fun project for experienced sewers and beginners alike. It's something that is not to challenging and something you you get to see put to use in an eco friendly fashion, which is quite rewarding. After the care the plants, you get to reap those rewards as well. Seems like a win-win. 

NOTE: Anyone can make this project, but the plants will have better chance of success if it is in an area that gets more rainfall, else you may need to water it more than intended, since the water will dry much faster having a burlap container. 

1. Determine your design.

This is custom, you can make it however you want. Do you want it to be like a traditional strawberry pot? Or do you want to try something new and be innovative? The choice is yours at this step.

2. Choose the size you want it to be.

After picking your general design, choose the size. Your size may be restricted by the amount of fabric you have. If so, no worries; adapt to the resources you have on hand and overcome the challenge. Mini burlap strawberry pots have lots of character! Be mindful of making them too large and heavy as well. Smaller sizers may be more mobile with a handle. 

3. Start cutting the material for out the design you have laid out.

In the photos, you can see I staggered 4 openings kind of in a Z pattern. Determine the sized pockets you will need, and cut the material to make the pocket. 

4. Get the sewing machine out, set the settings, and get ready to start sewing.

Choose your stitch pattern and thread. You want a larger stitch pattern since the threads of burlap are so thick. This will allow better strength when creating the pockets needed for the strawberry plants.

5. Make the sack shape first.

This is like creating the base of the design. Make the outer shell first, then I recommend using scissors to cut out the holes. You may want to stick a piece of cardboard or metal in the burlap sack to prevent you from making accidental cuts through both sides of the sack.

6. Cut hole outs of the sack for the strawberry outlets.

You want to create a large enough opening so the roots of the strawberries are able to spread throughout the sack. 

7. Where the holes are, create pocket with the burlap.

To do this, fold in the material so the burlap isn't such a tight pocket and it sits outward a bit, and you can gently nestle a strawberry plant in there. This is important, make sure it is not a tight pocket by leaving enough material to puff out. You can see in the one created, I didn't leave enough space for the most pockets. You may also want to add extra material at base of the pocket to prevent water from draining out so easily.

8. Create a handle with any spare burlap or material, so you can carry transport it around the garden.

This is a great feature, you can recycle material to reinforce the strength of the sack handle with old cloth scraps and sew it all up. I used some old scraps from another sewing project and bundled them all up with the scrap pieces of burlap from the cutouts, and now its easily transportable into the rainstorms and then back onto the patio.