GP & J Baker | Melbourne Stripe

Melbourne Stripe is a printed stripe from GP & J Baker's Eldon collection, and printing gives it something a woven stripe cannot: broken edges, a little bleed between the bands, and the look of a line laid on by hand. It is printed on a viscose and linen ground that is soft and dry with an easy drape, so the stripe falls into folds rather than standing up in them. It is one of the few stripes that reads as soft, which is useful in a bedroom where a woven stripe can look severe.

Composition is 82 per cent viscose and 18 per cent linen, 137 centimetres wide, with a 22.8 centimetre horizontal repeat and no vertical repeat. Abrasion is tested at 20,000 rubs on the Martindale scale. Four colourways: Aqua/Green, Blue, Emerald/Yellow and Jazz. Blue is the quiet one; Aqua/Green and Emerald/Yellow each hold two colours in balance; Jazz is the multicoloured version and the one to use sparingly.

We use printed stripes for curtains where a woven one would look too formal, for cushions cut across the bands, and for the gathered skirt of a bed valance. It also makes a good lining inside a plain curtain. Keep the room around it simple. We would use Blue or Aqua/Green in a bathroom and keep Jazz for a small, contained space. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

There is no vertical repeat, so drops cut economically, and six repeats fall across the 137 centimetre width. Because it is printed rather than woven, check the stripe runs true to the selvedge before cutting, since a small drift is normal on printed goods and should be corrected in the side turnings rather than ignored. Start both curtains of a pair on the same band.

• Composition: 18% Linen 82% Viscose
• Width: 137 cm (53.9 in)
• Pattern repeat: 22.8 cm horizontal
• Abrasion resistance: 20,000 rubs (Martindale)
• Care: Dry clean professionally only; do not wash, bleach or iron
• Collection: Eldon, GP & J Baker
• Colourways: 4 (Aqua/Green, Blue, Emerald/Yellow, Jazz)