Epoxy [50:50 mixture of Di-Glycidyl Ether of Bis-Phenol A (DGEBA) and Epoxidized Novolac (EPN)] was solution blended with Vinyl Acetate-2- Ethylhexylacrylate (VAc-EHA) resin in aqueous medium, in varying weight fractions, with Hexamethoxymethylmelamine (HMMM) as a crosslinker and data was compared with a control. The present work was aimed to optimize the tensile strength, dynamic mechanical strength, impact strength, and toughness by preparing a blend followed by jute composites of a semi- and full interpenetrating network (IPN). In control experiments epoxy alone was crosslinked (semi-IPN), whereas the DGEBA-EPN and VAc-EHA/HMMM were crosslinked separately (full-IPN), using jute as the substrate for making composites. Composites of full-IPN systems of epoxy/VAc-EHA system had higher moduli and UTS than the semi-IPN systems. Dynamic mechanical study showed that full-IPN systems have higher T-g values than semi-IPN systems. The impact strength increases with increasing proportions of VAc-EHA copolymer. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91: 958-963, 2004.