The English Home

Impactful ways with FABRIC

Fabrics are where many of us begin when furnishing and decorating a room. This is hardly surprising as they are the decorator’s workhorse, bringing colour, pattern and texture into play. Fabrics are incredibly versatile too: we sew them, mend them, remake them, line or stiffen them to extend their use.

Moving house is one moment when change of use reveals how adaptable fabrics can be. Curtains from the old house seldom fit windows in the new. Unpicking and remaking them to fit the new situation is within the competence of many home sewers, and for the non-sewer, competent makers in every part of the country take on projects like this. Fabric from curtains in good repair can be remade as pull-down or Roman blinds, cushions, even slipcovers for a bedroom chair or headboard.

Getting to know how different fabrics perform is a reliable way to choose prints or weaves with staying power when buying new. Spending time in decorating shops discovering personal preferences will pay dividends. If looking for curtain fabric, establish whether the preference is for patterns printed on

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