Shelter Stripe is a woven stripe in cotton and jute, part of the Westerly Stripes family and named for the harbour shelters that dot the Cornish coast. The jute gives the cloth a dry, slightly rustic texture and a visible slub, and because the stripe is woven in rather than printed on, it looks the same from both sides, which matters if you are making up unlined curtains or a reversible cushion.
The composition is 53 per cent cotton and 47 per cent jute, the width 136 centimetres, with a 17 centimetre horizontal repeat and no vertical one. It is recommended for curtains, loose and fixed upholstery and bedspreads. There is one colourway, Indigo/Red, a muted navy and a soft red on a natural ground, close in feeling to Mulberry's other jute stripes but with more red showing through, which makes it useful where the room already has red in it.
We use stripes like this on the pieces that get handled: a bench cushion in a hall, a footstool, or the outside back of a chair whose front is in a floral. It is also a good unlined curtain for a summer bedroom. Pair it with Westerly Stripe from the same collection for a fine-and-wide stripe combination in the same colourway. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.
Stripes are unforgiving of poor cutting, so ask your maker to cut on the stripe rather than the selvedge and to match it across seams and any joins. For a Roman blind, centre the stripe on the width. Jute can shrink a little, so have it dry cleaned rather than washed, and keep steam away from the face.
