Mulberry Home | Cowdray Stripe

Cowdray Stripe takes its name from the Sussex polo ground, and it is the fine, narrow companion to Racing Stripe in Mulberry's Stripes II collection, a close-set band of colour woven through cotton and jute rather than printed. The jute gives it the same dry, slightly rustic texture as its wider sibling, but the narrower repeat reads as a finer, more delicate stripe, closer to a fine pinstripe than a deckchair band.

The composition is 30 per cent jute and 70 per cent cotton, the width 130 centimetres, with a 10 centimetre horizontal repeat. It is recommended for curtains, loose and fixed upholstery and bedspreads. Two colourways: Denim is the everyday workable blue; Plum is the single richer colour, good against old leather or a dark wood. Denim is the one we specify most, since it reads almost as a neutral once it is in a room.

We would use it on a pair of curtains in a bedroom or a landing, on the seat of a chair, or as a bench cushion in a hall or a boot room. Pair it with Racing Stripe on a second piece in the same room, wide and fine together, or bring in a plain linen to give the eye somewhere quiet to land. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

A making-up note: cut on the stripe rather than the selvedge, and match it carefully across any seam, since a fine stripe shows a poor match more readily than a wide one. Jute must be dry cleaned rather than washed, and curtains should be lined both for the hang and to protect the colour.

• Composition: 30% jute, 70% cotton
• Width: 130 cm (51 in)
• Pattern repeat: 10 cm horizontal
• Suitable for: Curtains, loose upholstery, fixed upholstery, bedspreads
• Care: Dry clean only; do not wash, bleach or iron
• Collection: Stripes II, Mulberry Home
• Colourways: 2 (Denim, Plum)