Ballroom is a fabric with real depth to its surface, woven from wool, linen and silk so that the cloth catches light unevenly, almost as though it has been worn in over time. The mix of weave techniques gives it a softly mottled, distressed finish, closer to aged glass than to any conventional pattern. It is a fabric we bring in when a room needs a curtain that behaves like a piece of furniture in its own right, with weight and presence rather than pattern for pattern's sake.
The composition is 41% virgin wool, 35% linen and 24% silk, giving a weight of 300g per linear metre. It comes in a 144cm width with a 72cm repeat both vertically and horizontally, and is sold by the half metre. We have it in four colourways, Bouquet, Crystal, Fireplace and Marble; Bouquet is a warm, dusty rose that takes on a gentle lustre from the silk warp, while the linen and wool weft gives the cloth structure when it hangs.
We would use Ballroom for a substantial pair of curtains in a drawing room or dining room, somewhere the fabric can pool slightly at the floor and pick up candlelight or lamplight in the evening. It works well against plain wool or linen upholstery, and we have paired Bouquet with aged brass fittings and warm plaster walls to good effect. It is not a fabric for small, fussy treatments; it wants scale.
Given the weight and the 72cm repeat, we allow generously for pattern matching and would always interline for a proper drape, as the wool and linen content benefits from the extra body. We check the roll for shading before cutting, since handwoven-style cloths like this can vary subtly batch to batch, and we recommend an experienced curtain maker for the join work given the fabric's weight.
