Cute Burlap

Burlap, that humble sacking cloth from barn and bulk produce, is free or cheap and lends a little down-market charm to window treatments. Make drapes that pool on the floor, fancy curtains that will confound your guests, no-sew shades and valances, all from bargain yardage or scavenged coffee bean sacks -- stamped weights and logos are a decor bonus. These cute burlaps are just some example of burlap that you can try!

Rough-Edged Ruffles

Wash burlap fabric in cold water and dry in a just-warm dryer to soften and shrink it before making ruffled drapes. Use a pattern to measure and cut the burlap or just work from common sense to cut panels 7 inches longer than floor-length from the curtain rod. Fold over the top and bottom of each panel and zigzag stitch it to prevent unraveling. Rip or cut strips of burlap 6 inches wide and three times the length of your curtains. Iron each strip into 1-inch pleats and then baste down the center of the pleats to hold them together. Pin three rows of pleats, vertically, to each curtain panel, equidistant from one another, and sew down the basted line. Now make them into ruffles -- spritz the pleats with water, crumple them to release the pleats and iron them into curvy ruffles. Attach the ruffled curtains to the rod with drapery clips, gather them into columns with strips of burlap, and let them pool on the floor.

Cargo Cafe Curtains

Hunt for stamped shipping sacks that held rice, coffee or other bulk agricultural products -- you'll need one per window if the sack is stamped on both sides, or two if only one side of the sack has markings. Unstitch the side seams or cut the full marked panels from the sacks. Leave at least 6 inches above the markings at the top of each panel. Fold the top down 3/4 inch and stitch; then fold the top down about 2 1/2 inches so the hem is on the back side of the panel and stitch the hemmed edge to the panel. Add another row of stitching to create a sleeve for a curtain rod. Slide two curtains on a spring-loaded brass rod, gathering them as you go. Wedge the rod into the window frame about halfway from the bottom of the frame so the raw bottom edge of the curtains just brushes the sill. For more cute burlap please kindly open this application of Cute Burlap. Find out more stunning, creative and absolutely cute burlap by downloading this application!

Enjoy and make your own burlap