Ray Stitch - Linens

Ray Stitch was founded by avid-maker Rachel Hart, borne out of the desire to find not only good quality fabrics but also the necessary tools and accessories all in one place. She has established a wonderful high street haberdashery shop in North London where  you can spend an enjoyable hour browsing the dark wood shelves or relaxing on the sofa in the pattern room, with knowledgable staff on-hand to advise and discuss your project with. 

Following on from the success of the first in-house collection of linen solids, Rachel was keen to explore the use of woven colour in a more complex way, so enlisted the help of Wallace Sewell.

The intricate herringbone design, selected by Rachel, is woven with just two colours but through careful pairing, as advised by Emma, the overall look is understated yet beautiful. The delicate woven pattern creates a rich depth of colour through the clever blending of two tones, showcased in the six colourways.

Exploring the subtleties of working with minimal design elements was something that fascinated Emma whilst studying at the Royal College of Art, so she was excited to be asked to return to her fashion fabric roots once again.

The Herringbone weave, with its alternating directions of pattern, showcases the two matched colours perfectly and also gives the fabric a look of ‘weight’ without it being heavy. The colour is subtly different on either side of the fabric - one features the weft more visibly, whereas the warp is seen more on the other. Both sides can be used as the ‘face’ side and the weight and drape make it perfect for dressmaking.