William Morris Blackthorn Upholstery Fabric

Double rubs are Wyzenbeek, cotton duck abradant — the stricter of the two industry tests.

Recycled Canvas — Our workhorse. A tight plain weave spun from recycled bottles, with the highest abrasion resistance of anything we print and enough weather tolerance for a covered porch.

Lustre Velvet — A woven velvet with a short, dense pile and a soft sheen that shifts as you move around it. Crisper and more tailored than the knitted velvet, and the more durable of our velvet pair.

Performance Velvet — A dense knitted velvet with a deep, light-catching pile and real give. Stain-resistant and hard-wearing, with the forgiving stretch that makes tight upholstery far easier to pull.

European Linen — Pure linen woven from Western European flax, the benchmark for upholstery linen. Substantial, cool to the touch, and it softens rather than wears. The most beautiful cloth we offer, and the one that asks the most of you.

Performance Linen — The look and slub of linen without the upkeep. Resists stains, creasing and fading, and shrugs off sunlight.

Cotton Denim — A true cotton denim: sturdy, honest and substantial, with a matte surface that takes pattern crisply and softens handsomely with use.

Pattern repeat: 24" across × 28.2" vertical, straight match. Blackthorn is drawn at a generous scale, which is what lets the pattern read properly across a chair back. Every panel of a piece — seat, inside back, outside back, each arm — begins at the same point in the pattern. The trade allowance for a repeat of 28" or more is 30% above plain-fabric yardage.

The figures below already include that 30%. They are what you order, not a starting point.

Order the whole project in one length. Fabric is printed to order in runs, and a second length ordered weeks later may not match the first exactly. A little extra is always welcome — the offcuts make cushions.

Working with an upholsterer? Give them the repeat — 24" × 28.2", straight match — and ask for a yardage figure before you order. They will measure your actual frame and account for how your particular piece is cut, which no table can do.

A double rub is one back-and-forth pass of an abrading pad across the cloth. It is the industry's measure of how a fabric survives being sat on.

Two figures are commonly quoted. Cotton duck is the stricter abradant and the one we publish, because it is the conservative number. Wire-screen figures are always higher and we do not lead with them.

For context: a well-used family sofa is generally specified at 15,000 double rubs or above. Every fabric on this listing clears that except Cotton Denim, which we recommend for seats, benches and ottomans rather than sofas.

European Linen shrinks 9–11% in length. On a five-yard order that is most of half a yard. Pre-wash before cutting, or have it professionally shrunk. The same applies to Cotton Denim at 6–9%.

Upholstery is not usually washed once made up. Vacuum with a brush attachment, blot spills promptly rather than rubbing, and have the piece professionally cleaned when it needs it. The instructions above matter most for loose covers and cushion covers, and for pre-washing the two natural-fiber bases before you cut.

On velvet: brush the pile in one direction and keep it consistent across every panel of a piece, or the color will read differently from one side to the other.