GP & J Baker | Court Velvet

Court Velvet is the plain velvet GP & J Baker built to sit alongside the Royal Court designs, and it is the piece of the collection we specify most often. The pile is short and dense with a viscose-led handle, so it has the fluid drape and the deep light-catching quality of a silk velvet without the price or the fragility. Run a hand across it and the colour moves; that shift between light and shade is the whole point of a velvet and this one does it well.

Composition is 72 per cent viscose, 21 per cent cotton and 7 per cent polyester, woven 137 centimetres wide, with no repeat to allow for. Abrasion resistance is 50,000 rubs on the Martindale scale, which is heavy domestic and covers sofas and dining chairs as well as curtains. There are 16 colourways: Pearl, Mink, Amber, Rose Quartz, Ruby, Blue Grey, Aquamarine, Sapphire, Topaz, Royal Blue, Jade, Verdigris, Sage, Soft Gold, Silver and Charcoal. Pearl, Silver, Mink and Sage are the quiet ground colours; Ruby, Sapphire, Jade and Royal Blue are the ones to use in small, strong doses.

We use this on sofas and armchairs, on dining chair seats and backs, for cushions to pick a colour out of a printed curtain, and for full-length curtains where the pile gives weight to the hem. It is the natural companion to the Royal Court prints. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

Cut every piece with the pile running the same way and mark them as they come off the roll, or you will end up with two shades on one chair. Pile down for curtains, pile up for seating where you want the colour at its deepest. Press from the back over a pile board and never steam the face. Allow a little extra on plain velvet for mistakes; there is no pattern to hide them.

• Composition: 72% viscose, 21% cotton, 7% polyester
• Width: 137 cm (53.8 in)
• Abrasion resistance: 50,000 rubs (Martindale)
• Care: Dry clean professionally; do not wash, bleach or iron
• Collection: Court Velvet, GP & J Baker
• Colourways: 16 (Pearl, Mink, Amber, Rose Quartz, Ruby, Blue Grey, Aquamarine, Sapphire, Topaz, Royal Blue, Jade, Verdigris, Sage, Soft Gold, Silver, Charcoal)