English Lavender Linen Sachets

After moving into our new home, I discovered we inherited a giant mature English lavender bush. Now that summer is in full swing here in Oregon, the lavender bush is overflowing our driveway. Instead of just pruning the whole bush back, I decided to do something fun with all the blossoms.

I used to think that sachets were kind of silly and useless, but after receiving a few at a bridal shower, sachets are cool and practical too! They make your clothes and drawers smell great, you can toss one in your car for a natural air freshener, or even toss them in the dryer (up to ten times per sachet) to give your clothes a nice, light scent.

Here is how I made my linen sachets: I first pruned and harvested my lavender when the flowers were in bloom. If you want to maximize your harvest, you should do this during spring, but I waited until summer to harvest my lavender. The difference is that I only got one harvest out of the plant, but if you harvest during spring, you will yield two harvests instead of one.

You should always cut your lavender a few inches above the woody growth (the woody growth is what is below the green growth). Then gather your lavender into a bunch for drying. I rubber banded the bunch together and then hung it upside down for 1 week to dry out in my garage. Be sure to store your lavender in a cool, dark place away from the sun and heat. This helps the lavender scent last as long as possible.

Once dry, I de-stemmed my lavender. This means I rubbed a few stems between my hands to remove the buds. After all the buds were removed, I scooped them up and placed them into small white organza bags. I added a custom tag to make my linen sachets perfect for gifting.

If you don’t have a lavender bush or didn’t go lavender picking this Summer, no worries. You can find it just about anywhere online. Love to harvest your lavender but hate being wasteful? Simply gather the stems from your harvest and make fire starter bundles!