The Pampered Introvert

 Burlap and Lace burst on the scene in weddings several years ago.Coming from a true Southern background, I couldn’t see the beauty of the two put together. My idea of burlap wasn’t for weddings. Burlap reminds me of being a kid and having a potato sack race. The races were fun, but I hated how the sacks felt when they brushed my legs. Growing up I remember burlap corn feed bags for the chickens . So needless to say, when a bride to be, came to me with the idea of burlap and lace and called it rustic, I nodded my head in agreement, but inside I was saying, “okey.” Of course, as a designer I was  going to give it my best to please the bride. It is her day, so I took it all in and after she left, I started researching burlap and lace. I was surprised to see that the idea of burlap and lace goes back to Ireland and the Irish Potato Famine of 1846-47. The Irish have a grand history of lore and charm. And to an Irishman, the lowly burlap bag had its place of legacy. Potatoes came in burlap sacks. And it was potatoes, or more accurately the lack of potatoes, that brought the Irishmen to America. The Irishmen did not want to leave their Ireland but poverty and famine gave them little choice. So to an Irishman, the brown burlap represents the poverty and powerlessness that drove thousands of Irish immigrants away from their homes and families. The term “lace-curtain” is an expression describing the upwardly mobile Irish Americans, during this period. The white lace shamrock, so often displayed on St.Paddy’s Day , represents to an Irishman, that they were willing to suffer to have a better life. So seeing, a white lace shamrock or any lace on a background of coarse brown burlap represents the challenges against many odds to make a better life for themselves. I thought,  “Why, this like a marriage “! Two people believing in their commitment for better or worse, and  during their lifetime they will sustain a love that has no bounds. I am not sure that today’s brides know this little piece of fact when they are deciding their day. But when anyone ask me for a design using burlap and lace, I love telling this story. Burlap and lace isn’t just for weddings. I found once designing with it, the ideas are endless. Mason jars wrapped with burlap and lace, monogrammed burlap runners with lace and burlap napkin rings and coasters are used. Even personalized flags that weather really nicely outside can be created .