Paddock Stripe is a printed cotton stripe with a hand-drawn quality: the bands run down the length of the cloth but they are not ruled lines, and there is enough variation along them that the design carries a vertical repeat as well as a horizontal one. The ground is a plain 100 per cent cotton, so the hand is dry and even and the colour sits crisply on the surface. It is a stripe with some character, which is what you want when the stripe is the pattern in a room rather than the supporting act.
It is 134 centimetres wide with a 38 centimetre vertical repeat and a 67 centimetre horizontal one, and it is recommended for curtains, loose and fixed upholstery and bedspreads. There are two colourways: Espresso, a deep brown on natural that behaves like a neutral, and Multi, where several of the collection's colours run side by side and pull a whole scheme together. Multi is the one to choose if the rest of the room is plain; Espresso if there is a floral to be reckoned with.
We would use it on a pair of Roman blinds in a kitchen, on the seat and back of dining chairs, or as curtains in a boy's bedroom where a floral would feel wrong. Multi on a bedspread with a plain wool blanket folded at the foot is a good, unfussy look. Pair with Somerset Check or a plain linen. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.
Because the stripe has a vertical repeat, treat it like a pattern rather than a plain stripe when you estimate: allow one 38 centimetre repeat per drop and ask your maker to match across the width of a pair. On dining chairs, run the stripe front to back and keep it centred. Line curtains and blinds, and dry clean rather than wash.
