Noah's Ark is the story print of Kit Kemp's second collection for GP & J Baker: animals in pairs, birds, and the ark itself, all drawn by hand and printed onto a cotton and hemp ground. The hemp gives the cloth a dry, slightly slubbed surface that stops the print looking flat. It is a large design with a great deal to look at, and it works best where people get close enough to find the detail.
Eighty per cent cotton with 20 per cent hemp, 137 centimetres wide, with a repeat of 81 centimetres vertically and 68.5 centimetres horizontally, the largest in the book, so plan quantities before you fall for it. It is listed for curtains, loose and fixed upholstery and bedspreads. Five colourways: Plaster, Blue, Green, Spice and Indigo. Plaster keeps it calm enough for a hallway, while Indigo and Spice make it the thing you notice first in a room.
We use it for children's rooms and for the curtains in a guest bedroom, and it makes a good roman blind in a garden room where the window is the only place the pattern needs to go. It is sturdy enough for a loose-covered armchair. Keep everything else plain: a flat linen and a small woven check are enough. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.
An 81 centimetre repeat means a full extra repeat on every curtain drop, and on a wide window the wastage adds up, so measure carefully and order in one cut to keep the batch consistent. Ask your maker to set the ark rather than the animals at eye level on the leading edge, and to match the horizontal join so the pairs are not cut in half.
Composition: 80% Cotton 20% Hemp
Width: 137 cm (53.82 in)
Pattern repeat: 81 cm vertical, 68.5 cm horizontal
Care: Dry clean only
Collection: Kit Kemp Prints & Embroideries II, GP & J Baker
