George & Minnie | Checkers

Checkers is the two-colour check in George & Minnie's Checks & Stripes collection: a woven cotton with a square roughly the size of a postage stamp, in one coloured yarn crossed with a second colour rather than with white. That second colour is what makes it. Where a classic gingham is crisp and a little schoolroom, Checkers is warmer and more offbeat, and it has the slightly softened edge that yarn-dyed cloth always has.

The cloth is 100 per cent cotton, 140 centimetres wide, with a repeat of 5.5 centimetres vertically and 6 centimetres horizontally. The supplier rates it for curtains, loose and fixed upholstery and bedspreads. There are five colourways: Ink/Coral, Walnut/Aqua, Emerald/Periwinkle, Rose/Sage and Emerald/Fuchsia. Each pairs a deep with a bright, so pick by the darker colour if it needs to sit with an existing scheme, and by the brighter one if it is the accent.

We use it for the pieces that get handled: a loose cover on a kitchen chair, a bench cushion in a boot room, a pair of curtains in a child's bedroom. It is also a good check to run under one of the Volume One florals on a headboard or a valance, because the second colour can be matched to a mark in the print. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

A check this size needs to stay square, so cut on the grain and match across the seams; the small repeat means very little extra is needed to do so. For cushions, mitre the corners so the check turns cleanly, and pipe in the plainer of the two colours. For curtains we line it and let it hang for a few days before hemming, as cotton drops a little.

• Composition: 100% cotton
• Width: 140 cm (55 in)
• Pattern repeat: 5.5 cm vertical, 6 cm horizontal
• Suitable for: Curtains, loose and fixed upholstery, bedspreads
• Care: Professional dry clean only
• Collection: Checks & Stripes, George & Minnie
• Colourways: 5 (Ink/Coral, Walnut/Aqua, Emerald/Periwinkle, Rose/Sage, Emerald/Fuchsia)