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DIY Rustic-Style Curtains

Rustic-style drapes have a bit of a folk art vibe about them, and they complement primitive, eclectic, country and shabby-style decor. Make your own drapes from scraps you find around the home, sacks that used to carry java or grains, utilitarian pieces of fabric initially meant for another purpose — anything else is fair game. The imaginative recycling will save you money since you create homespun, one-of-a-kind window treatments.

Go Country Bistro

Make cafe curtains for the kitchen from linen grain sacks, stenciled using weights, farm names or coloured stripes. Leave the base of every curtain raw and sew a fast sleeve across the upper end of every panel so the drapes can be slid over plain threaded rods. Add cafe curtains to your window using wood slat blinds or barn wood shutters which may be pulled closed for complete solitude at night.

Branching Out

Scour the lawn or the area for a downed tree branch long enough to match across the window slot and opening into pole holders over it. Let the division dry out, strip it of bark, and paint it using matte polyurethane or whitewash it. Cut two lengths of natural burlap around 12 inches more than your planned curtain, then fold the long sides under two times and press them flat before stitching side hems. Then fold the top and bottom under 1/2 inch, press, then fold again at about 5 1/2 inches, press and stitch down. Punch metal grommets to the top of the drapes approximately 3 inches apart, loop tough twine through every grommet and create “figure 8” knots in every single twine loop. Slide the loops above the division curtain pole to hang the drapes. Add a touch of whimsy by perching a wood or feather bird on the branch.

Rags to Rustic

Bend long strips of homespun and rough-woven fabric; embroidered, grosgrain and other fancy ribbons; and lace, ruffled and pompom trim above a curtain rod to create a ribbon fringe window covering that flutters in the wind. Assess the length for those drapes, double it and add 6 inches to earn curtain strips. Fold each strip in half, pull the loop above the curtain pole from front to rear, slip the loose ends of the strips through the loop and pull tight to attach every strip to the pole. If you utilize this scrap treatment for your sewing room window, you may add fresh strips to the curtain using leftovers from every project. For a nursery or kid’s room, raid the hand-me-downs and old bed linens for cloth to add to pretty ribbons and trim you find on sale.

Hang It Up

Mount two pastoral wrought-iron hooks on the wall over the window, far enough apart from every hold an old-fashioned curved hardwood hanger — the type with a wood or metal slacks bar running across it. Fold a canvas dropcloth above the bar of every hanger so the additional flap of cloth falls in front of the front. Shirr the fabric to gathers above the bar and then pull it through the “curtain” either pools around the ground like a formal curtain or falls to your desired length. Secure the gathered fold to the hanger bar using wooden pinch-type clothespins. Bunch the drapes to pull them back from the window by day using clothesline tiebacks, loosely tied to your bow midway down the length of every dropcloth. Eliminate the clothesline tiebacks when you want the drapes to hang complete and close above the window at night.

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