Fabric Fantasies

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday March 8, 2001

Melissa Penfold

Going that extra yard can alter the tone of a home, writes Melissa Penfold.

Got a sofa? A bedhead? Some curtains? Are they the right ones for the space? Soft furnishings are the most important thing when it comes to making an interior feel right. What you choose to dress a room in will affect the mood of the entire space.

Like fashion, fabrics ride waves of popularity. The look for this season is: moleskin, velvet, linen, cotton, leather, suede, silk, satin, cashmere, mohair and alpaca anything. Look, too, for tweeds, quilted anything and fringing in all degrees of shagginess.

You can instantly update a space by introducing any of these materials. To do it quickly, and cheaply, create your own cushions, throws and tie-on seat covers. Upholster a bedhead - plain fabric for a formal look, patterned for a casual feel. Alternatively, replace your bed valance with a smart new length of fabric.

Make up a pair of unlined curtains with contrast bindings on the inside edge and hem. Try unbleached cotton or muslin in toning colours or get glamorous with raw silk and a contrasting silk binding. Anything that falls in a straight line, such as a blind, is a smart, good-value option.

Upholster chairs with thick wool slipcovers and chic contrast piping. Stick to inexpensive, plain fabrics for sofas where you need vast amounts; keep the special stuff for small stools and seat covers. If the surface of a favourite table or desk is beyond repair, cover it with canvas, leather or linen. Equally gorgeous is a slipcovered table with dead plain inverted pleats at the corners.

What better way to show off glamorous fabric than your own wallhanging masterpiece? Just stretch the fabric over a wooden artist's frame and pin into place.

Scale is the key element, so be bold and brave.

Bring yourself up to sewing speed by booking now for Lincraft's popular decorating classes (1800 640 107). You will learn how to make everything from slipcovers and Roman blinds to curtains detailed to fantastic effect.

OUR FAVOURITE OUTLETS

RETAIL

Chee Soon & Fitzgerald

Totally modern stuff, loads of Marimekko $77 a metre and retro prints from the '60s and '70s. 387 Crown Street, Surry Hills, 9360 1031.

Cloth Hand-printed, geometric designs on natural yarns in a simple palette. A hemp linen range starts from $95 a metre. Very hip and very now. 207 Clovelly Road, Clovelly, 9664 5570.

Fabric Fantasy If you want something completely different, this is the place to find it. Wonderful cashmere blends (loved by our leading interior designers) from $38 a metre plus a selection of plain wool in fabulous colours from $45 a metre, up-to-the-minute florals, geometric prints and heaps more. 110 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills, 9211 5536.

Home Yardage Always worth investigating for good-value basics. They offer a huge range of plain and printed acrylic-backed curtain fabric from 6.95 a metre. Stock is constantly changing, so pop in regularly. 66 York Street, city, 9290 3600.

Lincraft Skip the floral stuff and make a beeline for its vast array of dead plain designs - loads of bargain cottons, linens, waffles, silks, satins, velvets and wools from $19 per metre. Imperial Arcade, Pitt Street, City, 9221 5111, and suburban outlets.

No Chintz Save time and trouble by heading straight here for the biggest and best range of furnishing fabrics for less than $30 a metre in Sydney as well as a brilliant made-to-measure service. You can borrow swatch books to take home. 574 Crown Street, Surry Hills, 9318 2080 and 509 Willoughby Road, Willoughby, 9958 0257.

Pigott's Store It sells a full range of '50s-inspired pretty floral cotton prints by British textile designer Cath Kidston - a fave with the fashion pack. About $83 a metre. 53 Ocean Street, Woollahra, 9362 8119.

Spotlight Great collection of cotton stripes and checks that are dead ringers for best-selling designs by some of the biggest fabric houses in Britain. Prices from $5 to $15 a metre.

10 Bankstown Square, North Terrace, Bankstown, 9793 7700 and other suburban outlets.

Tempo Interiors A large collection of fabrics to inspire you, from affordable to high-end European designers. Simple cotton prints from Laura Ashley, Rowe or John Kaldor start at $25 a metre; upholstery-weight fabrics by Marco, Warwick and Westbury Textiles from $40; Designers Guild, Jim Thompson, Jane Churchill, Colefax & Fowler and Nina Campbell from $80. 515 Military Rd, Mosman,

9960 2844.

WHOLESALE

You are welcome to inspect (but not buy) fabrics at the following showrooms. Order through an interior decorator.

Ascraft Decortex Extensive range of cottons, damasks, crewels, muslins, linens, toiles and paisleys from major international fabric houses, including Fortuny, Edmond Petit, Jean Monro, Turnell & Gigon, Sandberg, Arte, B. Berger, Christa Design and Edelman Leather. Watch for its bi-annual warehouse clearance sale to the public. 19a Boundary Street, Rushcutters Bay, 9360 2311.

Arkitex Fabrics

Specialises in the Prada of fabrics - including Donghia - with loads of great touchy-feely textures in glorious colours.

44 McLachlan Avenue, Rushcutters Bay, 9331 4544.

Boyac Decorative Furnishings

Stocks Boussac, Dominic Kieffer, Metaphores and Verel de Belval from France; Blue Home, Colony and Fadini Borghi from Italy; and Mulberry and Watts of Westminster from England.

15-19 Boundary Street, Rushcutters Bay, 9360 4515.

Elliott Clarke

Stocks Gancedo and Commercial tapicere from

Spain, Waverley from the US and its own range. 15-19 Boundary Street Rushcutters Bay, 9361 6199.

Charles Parsons Great source of well-priced calico, canvas and those all-round basics in extra-broad widths. 100 Chalmers Street, Surry Hills. 9699 9444.

Mokum Textiles Get the smart, tailored look here . Zimmer + Rohde from Germany, Kravet from the US and Monkwell from Britain, plus its own lines.

98 Barcom Avenue, Rushcutters Bay, 9380 6188.

Geraldine Cooper Head here for Colefax & Fowler, Jane Churchill and Manuel Canovas cottons, linens and velvets - lots of reassuringly familiar florals, stripes and checks. 46 Queen Street, Woollahra, 9327 3566.

I. Redelman & Son Pty Ltd

Represents Robert Allen and Beacon Hill from US, Nobilis from France and CTS from Italy plus its own range. 37 Ocean Street, Woollahra, 9328 6413 and 96 Pacific Highway,

St Leonards, 9906 6566.

Roylston House A knocked-back Armani palette of neutrals, the scope of shades is endless. Expect loads of chenilles, velvets, linens, cords, cottons that take their cue from the catwalk.

17 Roylston Street, Paddington, 9331 3033.

South Pacific Fabrics

Swanky techno fabrics by designer Ulf Moritz of Sahco Hesslein from Germany, Dedar from Italy, Arte from Belgium, Clarence House from New York as well as retro-look handprint designs by local folk, Feisty.

195 Paddington Street, Paddington, 9327 7222.

St James Furnishing Imports Rubelli, Gaston Y Daniela, Zoffany, Marvic, G. P. & J. Baker, Brunschwig & Fils, Busby & Busby and Designtex.

19a Boundary Street, Rushcutters Bay, 9332 1900.

Wardlaw Pty Ltd

Stocks Designers Guild, Osborne & Little, Nina Campbell, Liberty, Emily Todhunter, Shumacher, Warner and Jim Thompson silks from Thailand. 100 Harris Street, Pyrmont, 9660 6266. (At the time of publication, St James Furnishings and Wardlaw are joining forces and looking for premises in Rushcutters Bay.)

Westbury Textiles

Excellent copies of more expensive designs at affordable prices. A wonderful collection: broad stripes that resemble Osborne & Little's famed stripe design and a convincing version of Colefax & Fowler's Eton check. 2/50 Bayswater Road,

Elizabeth Bay, 9380 6644.

Insider tips

• In small plain rooms, stick to designs of a modest nature.

• If the architecture has a certain weight, look for more robust designs.

• Medium-scale patterns will look very definite in small rooms but in large rooms will become almost like

a texture.

• The scale of all patterns should be determined by a room's height, not by its length or breadth.

• Run your window treatment from the ceiling to the floor

to increase a

room's height.

silver and blue

1 Hand beaded 100 per cent cotton curtains 115cm x 30cm in three block printed designs, $25 each from No Chintz