Now that steel cut oats is at last becoming popular, and Anna has even used the grain sack stitch to close her bags of oats, it’s time to reveal the farmer’s trick. How to open a grains sack. DInk Sinclair taught me this, back in 1971 when we bought our first farm.
Look closely at the stitching at the top of the feed sack. One side of the stitching will be a flat single running stitch, while the other side will have a knotty or looped appearance.Usually, the flat stitch is the “front” of the bag as well, with any printing appearing on that side. The loops are usually on the back side. Once you removed the “pull string” you will see the lops more clearly.
With the looped side of the bag facing you and the “pull string” side facing away, grasp the corner of the bag to your right and with a scissors or knife cut off the chain of stitches that extend past the right edge of the bag.
Pull the stitches of what you have just cut with your fingers or the point of your jackknife until you have unraveled enough of the pull string to reach the fabric of the feed sack or the paper closure sometimes used.
Grasp the end of the pull string in your left hand and the loops string in your right. Pull the strings away from each other. The stitching on the bag should unravel across the top, leaving you with an open feed sack.
DGLIKES 