GP & J Baker | Front Row

Front Row is one of Kit Kemp's crowded, observed drawings for GP & J Baker, printed on a viscose and linen cloth. The 95 centimetre vertical repeat gives the scene room to develop down a curtain drop, and the printing is fine enough that the individual figures stay legible from a metre away. The handle is soft and dry, with a fluid drape. The ground barely shows through the drawing, so from across a room the cloth reads as a single deep colour and only resolves into figures when you are standing at the window.

It is 82 per cent viscose and 18 per cent linen, 137 centimetres wide, with a 95 centimetre vertical and 68.5 centimetre horizontal repeat. Abrasion is tested at 3,000 double rubs on the Wyzenbeek scale, which is a decorative figure rather than a hard-wearing one. Two colourways, Jewel Blue and Jewel Green, the blue cooler and steadier, the green warmer and better under lamplight.

Curtains are where we would use it, full length and interlined so the drawing hangs flat. After that a headboard, a pair of cushions, or the back of an occasional chair that nobody sits in every day. Given the abrasion figure, keep it off the seats you actually use. A pair of these curtains will carry a whole room on their own. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

Plan the drop before you cut: with a 95 centimetre repeat you want the strongest part of the scene sitting between waist and eye level rather than disappearing into the heading. Allow one full repeat per drop for matching, ask for a cotton interlining to stop the viscose creasing along the folds, and match at the leading edge on a pair.

• Composition: 82% Viscose 18% Linen
• Width: 137 cm (53.9 in)
• Pattern repeat: 95 cm vertical, 68.5 cm horizontal
• Abrasion resistance: 3,000 double rubs (Wyzenbeek)
• Care: Dry clean professionally only; do not wash, bleach or iron
• Collection: Kit Kemp Prints & Embroideries, GP & J Baker
• Colourways: 2 (Jewel Blue, Jewel Green)