Mulberry Home | Oakhill

Oakhill is an embroidery: blooms and foliage stitched onto a linen-rich ground rather than printed on it, so the pattern sits proud of the cloth and catches the light along the thread. The stitching is worked in a mix of spun polyester, acrylic and viscose yarns, which is what gives the colour its slight sheen against the matt ground. It is a generous, unhurried design that reads as a piece of needlework from across the room, and it suits the kind of house where the curtains are meant to be noticed.

The ground is 60 per cent linen, with 18 per cent spun polyester, 13 per cent acrylic, 4 per cent cotton, 3 per cent viscose and 2 per cent nylon making up the embroidery threads. It comes 129 centimetres wide with a 59 centimetre vertical repeat and a 43 centimetre horizontal one, and it is recommended for curtains and bedspreads rather than seating. There is one colourway, Blue/Russet, an inky blue against a warm rust that we find works as well in a north-facing room as in a sunny one.

We would use it for a single pair of curtains in a room that deserves them, a library or a principal bedroom, and keep everything else quiet: a plain linen on the walls, a wool check on the chairs. It also makes a fine bedspread or a bed valance, and a pair of large cushions on a plain sofa if you want the embroidery without the drops. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

A word on making up: 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: 60% linen, 18% spun polyester, 13% acrylic, 4% cotton, 3% viscose, 2% nylon
• Width: 129 cm (51 in)
• Pattern repeat: 59 cm vertical, 43 cm horizontal
• Suitable for: Curtains, bedspreads
• Care: Dry clean only; do not wash, bleach or iron
• Collection: Garden Party, Mulberry Home
• Colourways: 1 (Blue/Russet)