Mulberry Home | Floral Fantasy

Floral Fantasy is an embroidery: a loose, imaginative arrangement of blooms stitched onto a linen ground rather than printed on it, so the pattern sits proud of the cloth and catches the light along the thread. It belongs to the Festival collection, and 'fantasy' is the right word for it, since the flowers are more invented than botanical, drawn with the freedom of something worked by hand rather than copied from a specimen.

The ground is 70 per cent linen, with 10 per cent polyester, 10 per cent viscose and 10 per cent wool making up the embroidery threads, which gives the stitching a soft, slightly textured sheen against the matt linen. It is 127 centimetres wide, with a 76 centimetre vertical repeat and a 63.5 centimetre horizontal one, and the page recommends it for curtains alone rather than seating. There is one colourway, Woodsmoke, a soft, smoky grey that keeps the embroidery from ever feeling too sweet.

We would use it for a single pair of curtains in a room that deserves them, a drawing room or a principal bedroom, and keep everything else quiet: a plain linen on the walls, a plain wool on the chairs. It is not recommended for seating, so we keep it off cushions that will see daily wear and let it do its work at the window instead. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

A making-up note: embroideries need a lining and, ideally, an interlining, which protects the stitching from the sun and gives the curtain enough body to hang well. Allow one full repeat per drop for matching, and ask your maker to press from the reverse over a towel so the threads are not flattened. It must be dry cleaned professionally, and never ironed on the face.

• Composition: 70% linen, 10% polyester, 10% viscose, 10% wool
• Width: 127 cm (50 in)
• Pattern repeat: 76 cm vertical, 63.5 cm horizontal
• Suitable for: Curtains
• Care: Dry clean only; do not wash, bleach or iron
• Collection: Festival Collection, Mulberry Home
• Colourways: 1 (Woodsmoke)