- 100% Organic Cotton Yarn
- Chocolatey brown dye (several complimentary tones)
- Custard yellow dye (classic colours work best)
The Good Ingredients
With the launch of our Regatta Custard fabric, we wanted to share with you a little peak behind the proverbial fabric curtain to discover what exactly goes into our signature striped fabrics beyond the list of ingredients. Our fabrics are each a testament to the skill, dedication, and tradition that goes into their making. Only with the generations of experience and the deeply valuable historic mills are we able to produce fabric of this quality - a recipe that took a very long time to perfect…
Well Prepared
For us it begins with the inkling of an idea; the design for a new fabric. For Regatta Custard we started with what we know, choosing to adapt the design of one of our most beloved stripes. We pondered through concepts of colour pairings only to arrive at what we believe to be the ultimate accompaniment to the rich chocolatey brown of our renowned Regatta stripe - we chose Custard. With the design conceived the process to make it a reality gets under way.
The Regatta Custard stripe is passed on to our makers at our Lancashire mill, a place steeped in the history of its weaving heritage. The makers prepare the organic cotton yarns by dying them precisely to colours specified by our designers. Those thousands of delicious chocolate and custard yarns are wound onto a massive sectional beam, meticulously introduced in the detailed sequence. This ‘beaming’ starts to build up the first semblance of the pattern, and helps to guarantee the consistency and uniformity of the yarn materials as they are tightly wound.
Cooking up the Custard
With the yarn prepared it is ready to be set up on the age-old traditional jacquard looms. A technology born out of Britain's industrial revolution and refined over the years, this technique of making fabric may be more mechanised than it once was, but the complexity and finesse of setting up and operating these machines is a revered skill that proves to be impossible to automate. By hand, the fine warp and weft of the yarn are precisely drawn-in to the loom ready to weave.
As the old looms clatter away the work is far from over. Among our team at the mill are the specialist operators whose tireless job is to maintain the quality of the weave as it rattles off great lengths of new fabric day and night without interruption. Quick hands dance over the machine catching fibres and rethreading breaks as they happen in a well rehearsed performance, a blur to any spectator. Man and machine work are working in harmony.
When the weaving stops and the silence falls, the fresh rolls of fabric are taken to a quieter room where the process continues. This is where we inspect each new roll, checked over by skilful eyes, details and fine weave structure scrutinised by a magnifying glass, and another human hand brushes over the fabric surface to detect any inconsistencies. All of this ensures the tactile and aesthetic quality of every meter of our fabric.
Serving Suggestion
Finally it’s cut to size, and the rest of this fabric’s story is up to you. If it’s an upholstery piece you desire, all of our UK-woven organic cotton Checks and Stripes are available on the full range of Armchairs, Slipper Chairs, Ottomans and Sofas. If you have your own project in mind our fabrics by the meter are a flexible choice that gives you the freedom to use our materials any way you can imagine. Top it all off by injecting some extra personality into your space with our playful scatter cushions.
Causing a Stir
Our Regatta Custard makes quite the statement with its contrasting stripes, bright and rich side by side, two inseparable classic colours. It is the latest addition to the Regatta range - already one of our bolder stripe designs. To keep the quality we never rush the process from concept to crafting. Our fabric production will always stay this way; a labour of love and a testament to the human touch. So we can confidently say the secret ingredient in our custard… is the people who make it.
