Baker Lifestyle | Pollen Trail

Pollen Trail is a small trailing botanical printed on a linen-rich blend, from Baker Lifestyle's Block Party. The repeat is close, 14 centimetres down and 15 across, so at any normal distance it behaves as a textured all-over rather than a figured pattern, and it will not compete with a larger print in the same room. The cloth has a dry, slightly grainy hand from the 56 per cent linen, and the printed line has the soft edge of a blocked design.

It is 56 per cent linen and 44 per cent cotton, 137 centimetres wide, with a 14 centimetre vertical and 15 centimetre horizontal repeat. Baker Lifestyle rate it for curtains and for loose and fixed upholstery; unlike most of the collection it is not listed for bedspreads, and no Martindale figure is published. Five colourways: Rustic Red, Aqua, Stone, Green and Fuchsia. Stone is the one that works as a neutral, while Rustic Red and Green will carry a scheme on their own.

We use Pollen Trail as the second pattern in a room: curtains where the main print is on the walls, or a pair of occasional chairs where the sofa is plain. It takes a close-covered dining chair well, and it is one of the better cloths here for a fitted valance or a bed base. Pair it with a plain linen in the print colour and one woven stripe. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

The tight repeat means very little waste: allow one repeat per drop, and roughly ten per cent over on upholstery cuts. On fixed upholstery, ask your upholsterer to run the trail upright on every face including the inside arms, or the direction will read wrong from across the room. Interline long curtains to stop the light bleaching the ground.

• Composition: 56% linen, 44% cotton
• Width: 137 cm (54 in)
• Pattern repeat: 14 cm vertical, 15 cm horizontal
• Care: Professional dry clean only; do not wash, bleach or iron
• Collection: Block Party, Baker Lifestyle
• Colourways: 5 (Rustic Red, Aqua, Stone, Green, Fuchsia)