Compass Check is the smallest-scale design in the Westerly Stripes collection, a fine printed windowpane check just four by five centimetres, close enough to read as a plain texture from across the room and only resolving into a grid when you come nearer. The ground is a plain 100 per cent cotton with a dry, even hand, and the printed line gives it a crispness that suits the collection's nautical names without tipping into anything too literal or too nursery.
It is 135 centimetres wide, with a four centimetre vertical repeat and a five centimetre horizontal one, and it is recommended for curtains, loose and fixed upholstery and bedspreads. Two colourways: Indigo is a deep, workable blue on a pale ground; Stone is the quiet neutral version, closer to a texture than a pattern. Indigo is the one we use to bring a little structure into a room that already has a floral or a stripe doing the talking.
We would use it on the seats of a set of kitchen or dining chairs, on a Roman blind in a bathroom, or as curtains in a small bedroom where a bigger check would crowd the room. It is also a good lining cloth for a curtain in a stronger pattern, so the check only shows on the leading edge and the hem, and a neat choice for piping on a plainer cushion. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.
A making-up note: a check this fine does not need heavy matching, but it should still be cut on the straight grain and centred on a seat or a cushion front for a tidy finish, and matched carefully across any visible seam. Allow a little extra cloth for that centring. Dry clean only; do not wash, bleach or iron.
