Is there a horizontal line in the room near the floor that you could match the border to, such as the apron of the window?

gray - That's a good idea. The window apron is more than 24 inches off the floor, though. Do you think that height would work? The only other horizontal line would be furniture that's as high or even higher...

If it we're me I'd go about 1/3 of the finished length of the area you are planning on covering. Don't forget you have a hem and stitch line to add in.

I would do a mock up by pinning your border to the bottom. Play with a few samples and see which one looks best visually.

I would add a deep fringe instead of a border. Do it in a monotone and it won't be frilly. I've done this btw and it looked good.

All those things might work, but they still sound like a lot of work. Why not do it the easy way?

Take a full-length picture of the window area, then play around in MSPaint or Photoshop until you get a border height that isn't either awkward because it's too tall or makeshift-looking because it's too short. That's the way I figure out these issues. The same approach works when it's time to make a gallery arrangement on awall. It's a lot easier to move pixels around a screen than it is to get out a bunch of pins and a sewing machine--which I don't own anyway--or to clear an entire room of furniture to make space to lay everything out on the floor.
Regards,
Magnaverde.

Such good suggestions!

greenmtn - duh! why didn't I think of that???

bumblebeez - I rejected that idea out of hand because I was afraid it would look Victorian or too busy. Your having done it may give me the courage to try. It's really the easiest solution (for me).

magnaverde - If you only knew how terrible I am on the computer! I see people on here using Photoshop and toy with purchasing the program, but I fear it will be a wasted investment for me. MSPaint I've tried with little success. My results always look like a 1st grader production. From your mock-ups, I like the top left and bottom right.

Thanks everyone!

Java

Not all fringes are silky either. Some are rough, jute type of cords or strips of fabric. I hot glued mine to the drapes.
I hope you find something that works for you.

Another idea is to hang the curtains from curtain rings (using clips), that might give you another few inches.

Here is a link that might be useful: curtain clips

Just a side note, Javachick. Those renderings I did were done in the regular MSPaint program that came pre-installed on computer, not Photoshop. Free is good. Why not give it another shot? It gets easier with practice. Just be sure to work in Bitmap format so that you can change colors easily. Jpegs don't give you that flexibility. M.

NB to Graywings: I'm crazy for your striped sofa's anti-gravity arms. The thing looks like it's ready to go airborne!

bumblebeez - Yes I would prefer somehting not too fancy...

fillagirl - I plan to use rings. The 100 inches is what I need to reach the top of the window molding.

graywings - Nice! I like those proportions.

Magnaverde - So, what you did started out as a digital photo that you saved as a bitmap format? That's probably where I've experienced trouble using MS Paint.

Javachick, those curtain designs were never a photo at all, just something I drew out of my head, but when I'm working with on-line clients I often draw on photos they give me, since they may live halfway across the country. Here's a before-&-after drawing I did for a thread the other day, to demonstrate a point I was making about proportion. You can do the same thing with a photo of your curtains.

Like you say, I saved the original photo as a Bitmap, then drew right on top of it and cut-&-pasted some of the elements. Much faster than drawing from scratch.

I started deconstructing my curtains and found there was a double hem. It gave me the extra length I needed! I hung the curtain rod higher and two of four panels are basted and ready to be sewn tomorrow.

Excellent news! If only every project worked out so easily.

Excellent news! If only every project worked out so easily.

I don't have any image to show but you can do one thing if you want try something new, I have tried it, with my old curtains and they look completely new,
What you have to do is..
Cut the curtain into two halves then connect both the part with metal rings, I will show you in some days, the pics of my curtains, and here the good thing is you can add beads in place of rings for attaching the curtains .