GP & J Baker | Handmade

Handmade is the printed stripe in Kit Kemp's stripe collection for GP & J Baker, and printing is the point, because the bands are drawn rather than woven, so their edges break and bleed the way a brushed line does. On a cotton-rich ground the colour sits bright and flat. The cloth is medium in weight with a soft, slightly papery handle. Printing also means the bands can vary in width across the repeat in a way a loom would not allow, so the stripe is uneven by design.

Composition is 90 per cent cotton and 10 per cent polyester, 134 centimetres wide, with a 29 centimetre vertical and 33.5 centimetre horizontal repeat. GP & J Baker list it for curtains and bedspreads. There is a single colourway, Jewel, which runs the collection's full range of saturated colours through the stripe, so it needs a quiet room around it rather than another pattern.

We would use it for curtains in a bedroom, for a bedspread over plain white linen, and for cushions cut so the stripe runs horizontally. It is not listed for upholstery, so keep it off seats. Against it, plain linen in one of the stripe's own colours does more than any second pattern would. A single colourway makes the decision easy: either the room takes it or it does not. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

Because the stripe is printed it has a vertical repeat of 29 centimetres and must be matched like any other print, where a woven stripe would not need this. Allow one repeat per drop, start both curtains of a pair on the same band, and check the print runs square to the selvedge before cutting, because a small drift is normal and is best absorbed in the side hems.

• Composition: 90% Cotton 10% Polyester
• Width: 134 cm (52.8 in)
• Pattern repeat: 29 cm vertical, 33.5 cm horizontal
• Care: Dry clean professionally only; do not wash, bleach or iron
• Collection: Kit Kemp Stripes, GP & J Baker
• Colourways: 1 (Jewel)