Many years ago we bought a house of that vintage. I went to the Beamis Bag Company and bought a bolt of burlap and made drapes for the whole house.Burlap does present some problems. It's hard on your hands. Figure on getting your machine cleaned completely when you're thru. If you get a good quality burlap (you should) it has some body but it's a little stiff and takes some persuading to drape nicely but it is a wonderful texture and color. The quality does matter. I looked at the decorator stuff and almost decided against using burlap. But the best commercial bag material was very different and it was still quite cheap. If you are going to make roman shades(not very difficult) you might consider some iron on backing. I would simplify everything. Good luck..I think you'll have fun.

Good question, but I don't have experience with linen or burlap curtains/drapes. I guess if you have a lot of strong sun coming through the window, they would last longer if lined. I was in some models of new homes being built in So. Calif. this past summer. Below, are several pictures I took of drapery that looked like burlap or linen. Try posting this question on the GW Home Decorating site. Maybe there are some people there who have some good advice. Laurie Here is a link that might be useful: Home Decor Site

I did this with burlap years ago on a wall that was not in very good shape. As I recall, I stapled or thumbtacked around the edges which I then covered with trim of some sort. I'm not sure starch or wallpaper paste would work since burlap can be heavy. I have used the liquid starch method when I did a crazy piecey sort of treatment in a bathroom once. Loved that when I wanted to remove it, it just peeled it off the wall, wash and then could reuse the fabric if you wanted to. Didn't have to even clean the walls after :)

Well done -and it adds just the right about of decoration without overpowering the window. Did the burlap come with the fabric hem or did you attach it?