de Le Cuona | Elizabeth Paisley – Partridge

Elizabeth Paisley takes a familiar motif and treats it with some restraint. The paisley is drawn at a generous scale and sits within a wool and cotton cloth, so the pattern reads softly rather than as a crisp print. Wool gives the fabric body and a slightly dry, warm hand, while the cotton keeps it from feeling heavy. In a room it behaves like a quiet texture from across the space, and only close up does the paisley reveal itself as a considered design.

The fabric is 75% wool and 25% cotton and is 135 cm wide. The vertical repeat is 64 cm and the horizontal repeat is 68 cm, a large repeat that needs thought when you plan a project. It is sold by the half metre, which suits careful quantity planning. It is recommended for curtains, and that is how we would use it. Partridge is a soft, earthy neutral, somewhere between stone and a warm grey-brown. We have not been given a Martindale figure or a place of manufacture, so we will not quote one.

We would hang this at tall windows as full-length curtains in a sitting room or bedroom, where the weight of the wool lets the folds fall properly and hold their shape. It would also suit a pair of curtains across a doorway or an alcove where a draught needs softening. Pair it with a plain linen or wool in a close tone for a cushion or a sofa, so the paisley is the one patterned element. A plain, textured wallcovering or limewashed wall behind it keeps the room calm and lets the pattern breathe.

With a 64 cm vertical repeat, allow for extra cloth to match the pattern across each width and between panels; your workroom will calculate the exact amount from your drop. We would line and interline these curtains, as the wool benefits from the added body and the lining protects it from sun. Ask the workroom to match the repeat at the leading edges so the paisley runs continuously across a pair. Order all your fabric at once so it comes from the same run, and keep any offcuts for tiebacks or cushions.