touchy feely...
All about our fabrics
At Sofas & Stuff we are very touchy feely.
We don't have a daily staff group hug, but we do make sure our
fabrics are just as good to look at as they are to touch and sit
on.
I've spent a long time, weeks probably over the
last twenty years, in the baking hot handloom sheds of Kerala,
south India, getting sweaty choosing yarns and designing stripes
with Sanjay in Cannanore.
But I still love watching handloom weavers pass
the shuttle back and forth to make a few inches of wondrous fabric.
Or chasing down the perfect kelim in central Turkey. It's worth
travelling for a really good kelim weaver. Much better quality than
Istanbul's tourist trade offers.
I don't have to go as far for our linen cotton
mixes. They're made in UK mills. We're proud of that.
We've suggested what works well for different
sofas. Chenille works best as a tight-cover; linen or cotton-linen
for loose covers; cotton for washable covers.
We couldn't buy a fabric without holding it in
our hands.
We wouldn't want you to either.
If you fill out our fabric request form, 24
hours later we'll send out berry coloured velvet, dark chocolate
cotton, soft striped chenille… whatever your heart desires.
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Chenille
Chenille is a French word meaning
caterpillar, and it's true that the soft ridges of chenille fabric
have something of a fuzzy caterpillar look. Chenille can be made
from natural fibres like cotton or rayon (derived from wood) or
man-made acrylic fibres.
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Velvet
Velvet is a fabric with a thick soft pile,
cut so the ends of the yarns form the surface, lending it a
luxurious feel. You can achieve many effects with velvet. If the
pile is brushed in one direction, for example, the cloth has a very
rich, high sheen.
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Linen
An ancient fabric made from the Flax plant
and valued for its cool, fresh feel. It's considered a tad more
exotic than humble cotton. Linen ages well, but is susceptible to
colour change in strong direct natural light. It uses far less
water in processing than cotton, a plus for the ecologically
minded. My favourite.
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Cotton
The most widely used natural fibre in
clothing and furnishings because of its soft, breathable and stable
nature. As a plant it flourishes in tropical and subtropical
climates.
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