Ribbon Stripe is a woven cotton stripe from George & Minnie's Checks & Stripes collection, the new 2026 brand that has been quietly filling our sample drawers. The stripe is woven into the cloth rather than printed on it, so both faces are properly coloured and the edges of each band have the slightly soft quality that yarn-dyed cloth always has. It is a medium-width stripe on a pale ground, and in a room it does what a good ticking does: it tidies things up and gives the eye a rhythm to follow.
It is 100 per cent cotton, 136 centimetres wide, with the stripe repeating every 7 centimetres across the width. The supplier rates it for curtains, loose and fixed upholstery and bedspreads, and it has the firm, dry hand you want for all three. There are 11 colourways, among them Barley, Terracotta, Periwinkle, Emerald and Daffodil, all sharing the same pale ground, which makes it easy to run two or three of them through one house without the scheme feeling bitty.
We tend to use it for the workhorse pieces: a pair of unlined summer curtains in a bedroom, a slipper chair or an ottoman in a sitting room, and it is very good as the stripe that calms one of the George & Minnie florals on a headboard. In Emerald or Ink it also makes a smart Roman blind in a kitchen. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.
The stripe runs down the length of the cloth, so for curtains centre a stripe on the leading edge and let the 7 centimetre repeat take care of the joins between widths. On upholstery it should run vertically up backs and along the drop of cushions, and your upholsterer will want the stripes to meet where the seat cushion sits on the platform; ask them to cut the back and the seat from one length so nothing drifts.
Composition: 100% cotton
Width: 136 cm (54 in)
Pattern repeat: 7 cm horizontal
Suitable for: Curtains, loose and fixed upholstery, bedspreads
