GP & J Baker | Tudor Stripe

Tudor Stripe is the woven stripe in Royal Court, GP & J Baker's collection drawn from the archive of designs made for royal residences. It is a linen-led cloth with the stripe built into the weave rather than printed onto it, so the bands have a slight change of texture as well as colour and the whole thing has the dry, honest handle of a linen. The stripe runs the length of the cloth on a 43 centimetre horizontal repeat, which makes it a broad, generous arrangement rather than a narrow ticking.

Composition is 65 per cent linen, 22 per cent viscose and 13 per cent polyester, woven 129 centimetres wide, with a 43 centimetre horizontal repeat and no vertical repeat to allow for. GP & J Baker rate it for curtains and bedspreads rather than for upholstery, and we would follow that. Five colourways: Green, Indigo, Red, Red/Green and Green/Blue. Indigo and Green are the plainest to live with, Red is the warmest, and the two-colour options carry the most weight in a room.

Curtains are the main use, and a linen stripe hangs beautifully with a simple gathered or a French pleat heading. It also makes a good flat bedspread, a blind in a hall, and cushions cut across the stripe so the bands run horizontally against a plain sofa. Pair it with a small print and one plain linen in the ground colour. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

Because the stripe is woven in, there is no vertical repeat to lose, but you must plan which band falls at each leading edge and mirror the pair. Join widths in the ditch of a stripe rather than through a band. Linen relaxes, so hang the curtains for two weeks before hemming, and have them lined so they do not fade unevenly.

• Composition: 65% linen, 22% viscose, 13% polyester
• Width: 129 cm (50.7 in)
• Pattern repeat: 43 cm horizontal
• Care: Dry clean professionally; do not wash, bleach or iron
• Collection: Royal Court, GP & J Baker
• Colourways: 5 (Green, Indigo, Red, Red/Green, Green/Blue)