Sycamore & Hornbeam
We are launching our latest upholstery fabric collection this week and excitingly, this is Wallace Sewell's debut solo range! Although at first glance, the subtle designs might not be what you have come to associate with Wallace Sewell, the ideas behind this range go back to the roots of Emma’s design concepts, where the structure of the cloth is foremost, and the approach is almost scientific.
“A weaver always has to think structurally instead of simply designing the patterns that appear on the woven surface.” – Annie Albers
We have always pushed the boundaries of colour & weave to find creative new ways to express our ideas. As much as we love the interplay of bold, bright colour and juxtaposing surprising combinations, we are passionate about the actual weaving process and the possibilities of the structural elements formed. When the palette is muted, the design becomes all about the micropatterns of the woven structures.
This latest collection was designed to be an elevated ‘plain’ fabric, suitable for any upholstered piece and the perfect foil for a dynamic interior scheme. From a distance, the fabric appears to be a textured solid colour, but on closer inspection, the intriguing and complex details can be seen. These fabrics can be treated as a neutral in your interior scheme, being the perfect background to statement pieces and bold colours, but they are also complex enough to be the stars in a pared-down, minimalist aesthetic.
Importantly, our new collection was designed with all our customers in mind. For the first time ever, both retail and trade customers will be able to buy this fabric by the metre directly from us. For use by interior and furniture designers to domestic use recovering a single chair, and anything in between, this is the collection for you.
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Our experimentation with the structure of woven cloth was the starting point, and as we developed this complex framework we became interested in designs that repeat with an organic irregularity. Research has shown that natural scenes are visually appealing, and even stress-relieving, due to the presence of repetitive patterns called fractals – these can be seen in clouds, rivers, and coastlines, but also at a smaller scale in leaves, ferns, flowers... and tree bark! The bark of the Sycamore and the Hornbeam are particularly distinctive, and inspiring!
We used woven ideas and structures from our scarf and throw collections, but introduced a disruption to the relationship between the warp stripe and its threading scheme. This intentional imperfection builds an organic rhythm that camouflages the design repeat, echoing the fractals that occur in nature.
This collection of upholstery fabric was developed in conjunction with our long-standing weavers Mitchell Interflex, who brought their expertise of the manufacturing process. The practical and economic design concepts behind this range are akin to our work for Transport for London, designing moquette. Both the Sycamore and Hornbeam designs use a maximum of 6 colours in total, and the full range is woven off two warp variations. The cloth has a front and back, but both sides can be used as the prominent face. We have used the same woven structure for both the Sycamore and the Hornbeam ranges, meaning the cloth properties are consistent across the whole collection, allowing for mixing and matching as desired.
We pride ourselves on being clever within the practical constraints of manufacture, so even with a tight and strategic approach, there are eleven colourways across the two designs, celebrating the spectrum of shades found in nature!
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Woven in Lancashire by Mitchell Interflex, this cloth is primarily woven in wool, with a small element of polyamide for durability, and overall, has 25% recycled fibres.
The cloth surpasses 50,000 on Martindale abrasion tests. (which tests the abrasion and pilling resistance of fabric.) This rating means the fabric is suitable for daily or heavy-duty use, as well as commercial environments.
Due to the high wool component, this cloth is both cigarette and match-resistant (the Furniture and Furnishings Regulations 1988)
If you have specific questions, then please contact the studio, or pop into the shop.
Price £114.00 p/m
(including VAT)
Discount 10% for 10+ metres, 25% for 25+ metres, 50% for 150+ metres
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If you like the subtle micropatterns of our upholstery fabric,
you might also like:
Our Una bedspreads, woven in 100% cotton, for a smooth, lighter-weight feel. Available in seven tonal colourways, these throws work perfectly to provide a calm, subtle texture to your room; with our classic woven structures ensuring the designs have plenty of understated details.
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#MyWallaceSewell
We have had a great response to this new feature - thank you to everyone who has sent in photos of themselves in their beloved WS scarves. You can email photos, or tag us on social media any time - we will pick one each month to feature in the newsletter and receive a WS hashtag pin!
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