Mulberry Home | Flying Ducks Velvet

Flying Ducks Velvet takes one of the great English country motifs, a flight of ducks banking across the sky, and prints it onto a soft cotton velvet rather than the cotton twill it more usually appears on. The birds are drawn with a naturalist's eye rather than a cartoonist's, small enough to repeat generously across the pile, and the velvet ground gives the whole design a warmth and depth a flat print never achieves. It is a cloth with real sporting pedigree.

The pile is 90 per cent cotton and 10 per cent polyester, 135 centimetres wide, with a 64 centimetre vertical repeat; the horizontal repeat matches the full width, so widths join without an offset. Tested to 50,000 rubs on the Martindale scale, it is rated for upholstery as well as curtains, and recommended for curtains, loose and fixed upholstery and bedspreads. There are two colourways: Sky, a pale, cloudy blue that keeps the ducks light and airborne, and Camel, a warm neutral that reads almost as a plain from a distance and reveals the birds only up close.

We would put Camel on a wing chair or a study sofa, where it behaves almost like a texture, and Sky on curtains in a gun room, a boot room or a child's bedroom, where the subject earns a smile rather than raises an eyebrow. A footstool or a set of cushions in it, alongside a plain wool, is an easy way to bring it into a more formal room. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

A making-up note: velvets need a nap check as well as a repeat check, so cut every piece with the pile running the same way and allow a full 64 centimetre repeat per drop or per chair. Ask your upholsterer to centre a duck, rather than a gap, on the inside back and seat. It must be dry cleaned professionally, and steamed rather than pressed.

• Composition: 90% cotton, 10% polyester
• Width: 135 cm (53 in)
• Pattern repeat: 64 cm vertical
• Abrasion resistance: 50,000 rubs (Martindale)
• Suitable for: Curtains, loose upholstery, fixed upholstery, bedspreads
• Care: Dry clean only; do not wash, bleach or iron
• Collection: Country Weekend, Mulberry Home
• Colourways: 2 (Sky, Camel)