Mulberry Home | Beltane

Beltane is an embroidery from the Country Walk collection, a scattering of spring flowers stitched onto a cotton ground rather than printed, so the blooms sit proud of the cloth and catch the light along the thread. It takes its name from the old May Day festival, and the design has that sense of a countryside just coming into flower. The stitching is worked in acrylic and polyester yarn, which gives the colour a soft sheen against the matt cotton ground. The flowers are spaced generously across the ground, so the embroidery reads as a scattering rather than a dense, formal pattern.

The composition is 78 per cent cotton, 20 per cent acrylic and 2 per cent polyester, the latter two the embroidery threads. It is 134 centimetres wide with a 60 centimetre vertical repeat and a 67 centimetre horizontal one, and it is recommended for curtains and bedspreads rather than seating. Two colourways: Midnight Blue, a deep, inky ground that makes the stitched flowers glow, and Teal/Spice, a warmer, more countrified pairing.

We would hang it as a pair of curtains in a country sitting room or a principal bedroom, interlined so the embroidery has the weight to hang properly, and keep the rest of the room in plain wools and linens. As a bedspread it makes a lovely finished bed with very little else needed. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

A making-up note: embroideries should always be lined, and interlining protects the stitching from sun and gives the curtain body. Allow a full repeat per drop for matching, and ask your maker to press from the reverse over a soft cloth so the stitches are not flattened. Dry clean only, and never iron the face.

• Composition: 78% cotton, 2% polyester, 20% acrylic
• Width: 134 cm (53 in)
• Pattern repeat: 60 cm vertical, 67 cm horizontal
• Suitable for: Curtains, bedspreads
• Care: Dry clean only; do not wash, bleach or iron
• Collection: Country Walk, Mulberry Home
• Colourways: 2 (Midnight Blue, Teal/Spice)