raggygirlvintage: grainsacks

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

~raggygirlvintage french farmhouse stylin’~burlap~

Hello friends,

Well enough about blogger issues, let’s get back to the fun stuff! Ready for some more ~french farmhouse stylin’~

raggygirlvintage syle?

We can’t talk about ~french farmhouse stylin’~ without including a feature on burlap. Burlap is one of the most versatile decor fabrics. Of course if you can get your hands on authentic burlap sacks all the better, but there are also great burlap fabrics out there that still have that rustic, vintage feel and look.

I haven’t yet been able to bring myself to cut up the few vintage sacks I do own, but they make great “props” folded or rolled and tucked here and there in your decor. {I think they are going to look awesome hanging on my whitewashed ladder when I am brave enough to smuggle it inside the house!}

You know how I love burlap table runners, and if my etsy sales are anything to go by, I’m not the only one! I love to make plain burlap runners, runners with white ruffles, ticking ruffles, vintage ruffles and runners with french graphics. They have all featured in my home decor at one time or another.

Whilst I am a big fan of decorating with burlap, I have to tell you I don’t enjoy working with it. If you’ve worked with burlap you will know what I am talking about!! By the end of a sewing session both my home and I are covered in fluff. and I have itchy eyes and skin for days. But every now and then I roll up my sleeves and work with burlap, ‘cos it’s worth it for the final product!

This is a pillow I recently made out of a printed burlap, it has french script and graphics all over it.

I backed it with plain burlap, but next time I would back it with a heavy cotton. It is hard to sew burlap on burlap and not have the seams part, as it is a very loosely woven fabric. For this reason it is not my favorite fabric for pillows, and for this same reason this pillow resides in my home : it did not pass my somewhat perfectionist standards for sale!! I’m okay with that, it looks kinda cute on my little bench, don’t you think!

The great thing about burlap is the neutral color goes with pretty much anything, and it adds that rustic lived-in touch in a home. You can get it in a variety of colors nowadays, but I prefer the traditional light brown burlap, or the off white.

This is a small runner I made in the off white, with white ruffles and broderie anglaise lace.