Brunschwig & Fils | Kumaly Print

Kumaly Print is a printed linen with a long repeat, and it is a cloth that needs a little space. The ground is a natural linen weave, dry and a touch uneven in the yarn, which gives the printed design a soft edge instead of a hard graphic one. Because the pattern repeats over 23 in, it unfolds slowly across a width, so what you see on the roll is only part of the picture. Hung in a window or stretched over a larger piece, it settles into a rhythm and stops looking like a motif.

The fabric is 100% linen and 54.64 in (138.79 cm) wide, a good broad width that helps on larger windows. The vertical repeat is 23 in (58.42 cm) and the horizontal repeat is 13.46 in (34.19 cm). The SKU is 8025132. No Martindale figure is given, so we treat it as a fabric for curtains, blinds and decorative upholstery, such as headboards and occasional chairs, rather than for a sofa that is sat on every day.

We would use it in full-length curtains in a drawing room or a main bedroom, where the height of the drop lets the long repeat read properly. A pair of cushions on a plain sofa is a lighter way to bring it in, and a single accent chair upholstered in it would hold a corner of a room. For pairing, we would choose a quiet, textured plain such as a heavy linen or a wool in a tone drawn from the ground, and keep the wall colour calm.

On making up, the long repeat means more waste than a small pattern, so quantities need care. Allow at least one full repeat per cut length, and more across wider windows where several widths must match. Ask your workroom to lay out the pattern before cutting, so the main motif falls cleanly at the heading and the hem sits well. We would line these curtains, as lining protects the linen from sun and helps the cloth hang with some weight.