I was over at
House of Fabric and am really loving some fabric that is available. So I am going to share some of my fav's with you all. Plus I will list some info and what they would be good for:
This lovely linen Suzani inspired print caught my eye right away. It is a Kravet fabric by the name of Tania Misty Rose. It is listed for sale at $24.95/yd. Which is a great price for a linen fabric as lovely as this! It has a large repeat at 27". What is a repeat you say? You measure the full design section from the bottom of the design to the top of the design and then the fabric would then repeat the design. This one at 27" is quite big. What does that mean in terms of use. Well.... you would want to use this fabric where you would have a long run of it, say in drapes for instance. To get all the benefits of the long design repeat you would want a long vertical to showcase the design. You could use this on a pillow, but, the design would be lost on such a small piece. In addition, the info states that it has 15,000 dbl rubs. That means in terms of textiles that it doesn't have the greatest 'lasting ability". When a fabric is around 15,000 dbl rubs you would only use it for drapes or pillows. Iin other words, for "decorative purposes" only. This is because this fabric would not hold up on a chair or couch.
This is another fabric from Kravet- Connoiseur Carnival. I LOVE paisley fabric, I have such a soft spot for them. Again, here we have a 100% Linen fabric that is $24.95/yd. I can only assume it too has 15,000dbl rubs since it is very similar to the Tania Misty Rose. It too would only be good for pillows and drapes.
This amazing fabric which I spoke of in yesterday's post is Wabash Aquamarine by Jonathan Adler for Kravet. I LOVE, LOVE this fabric. I love the design, I love the colours!! It is a great price at $32.95. It is 100% Linen and has 15,000 dbl rubs. It too would do well on pillows and drapes. However, Mabley Handler Design used this great fabric in their Dining Room for the Hampton's Showcase Home for both the drapes and the back of the inside of the dining chairs. I think this was a very wise choice since it would not have been a great choice for the seat of the dining chairs. Remember that 15,000 dbl rubs isn't that great when it comes to the wearing strength of a fabric, so, using it the way they did and upholstering the rest of the chair I presume in a fabric more appropriate was a good thing.
This lovely Ikat printed fabric is priced at $28.95. It is 100% Linen and is made by Kravet. I have always loved Ikat fabric- way before it was popular. Although it is NOT a true Ikat, it is such a lovely print. I love the colours used here. It would look just as home in a beach house as it would in a more modern setting. I think that is one of the great things about Ikat. Again, we have 15,000 dbl rubs for this fabric so it would be more appropriate for decorative purposes- pillows, drapes chair backs.
This lovely fabric is called Zuma Stone and is by Candice Olsen for Kravet. I love the almost Moroccan tile effect that is mixed with a quadrafoil. It's like Ethnic meets English Gothic!! Don't know if that is what she was going for but that's how I see it! Now it states that the fabric is 100% Cotton heavy Poplin with embroidered accent. I don't know what the dbl. rub count is but, anytime I see "embroidered" one has to be careful the way in which it is used. Using this on a sofa would be a huge mistake as the embroidery could not take the abuse. Neither would it be great for a chair. This fabric would be great for pillows, drapes or any other decorative way you wish to use a fabric. What is Poplin you say?? Well........ Poplin is a type of fabric that is in the plain weave category. It is a strong plain weave. But what sets it apart is that the threads in the crosswise direction (going from selvedge to selvedge) are made of a fine cord. So it gives the fabric a slight "bump" look to it. It gives it a slight texture and adds to the strength. If this fabric had NOT been embroidered I am sure that the dbl rubs would have been higher.
Yes I know...... another Ikat fabric. But I have loved this one by Laura Ashley for some time. It is in the teal colourway. Can't say anything more than I love it!!! It is 100% Heavy Cotton Slub Duck. What the heck does that mean anyway? Anytime a fabric is categorized as Heavy Cotton Duck you can be reasonably sure that it will hold up to some abuse. The threads used to weave it are heavier than a regular plain weave fabric. Also the fabric mentions a "slub". Think of it as an extra "ball" of fabric on the thread that gives it texture. Although I do not know the dbl rubs it would be great for most things like chairs, ottomans, drapes etc..... It would also be great as a shower curtain. I would have to see it in person to say whether or not it was appropriate for a sofa. It probably would be OK as long as it wasn't the main sofa the kids would be jumping around on. The price point is decent at $18.95!
This lovely Lattice Fabric is a rayon/polyester mix. It is called Barboza Grey by Duralee. It is also a Jacquard weave. What is that you say?? Well.... a jacquard weave fabric is woven on a special loom that "weaves" in a design. It can have many "floats". Floats are threads that do just that. The warp (parallel to the selvedge) threads can float over 3,4 or even 5 weft threads. This gives the fabric it's design. It can also give sheen. But what this means is that it isn't very abrasion resistant or should be used for heavy duty things. The floats can catch or they can rub. In this case, since the fabric is made of rayon/polyester little "pills" or little balls of fibres can appear on the fabric after it is rubbed. And since that polyester gives the fabric a little extra strength than if it were rayon alone then those pills will stick to the fabric. After awhile it won't look as nice. So use this fabric with caution. I would use it for decorative pillows that don't get much action or for drapes. The price point for this fabric is $22.95. As I mentioned they added poly to the mix to improve the performance of the fabric as Rayon alone can be a weaker fibre.
So not only did I give you some of the fabrics that I have been looking at but you got a mini Textiles lesson as well. The more you know about what you are buying the better. That way YOU don't waste money or time. One of the things that really gets to me is when fabric is used for the wrong application. This is especially true by designers who quite frankly, should know better. But a lot of times, all they see is "Oh what a pretty fabric" without really knowing whether or not it would be good for a particular application.
Have a great day everyone.
Megan
