By Staying In Touch With Fa brics (NAPSA)—Along with the obvious impact of color and pattern, interior designers always consider a fabric’s hand—howit feels. By touching and crushing it, they > ee) s oa 4 {22 { determine how it will wear, fall, as in a drapery, and lay. “I always touch fabric,” says Chicago designer Tony Stavish, A.W. Stavish Designs. “I want to know howit will feel when I sit on it and run my hand over it. The better it feels, the better a fabric will drape. “T like to layer textures in a space the way I layer furniture finishes. In a traditional living room, I might include some wood—plain, painted or lacquered—with stone and even metal,” says Stavish. “In a bedroom, I might mix a chenille upholstered piece with a lustrous drapery treatment and crisp cotton print on the bed,” he adds. “Tactile qualities are especially important in a room without printed fabrics to add visualinterest. That’s when you really need the texture,” notes Ingrid Bjelland Leess, the New Canaan, Conn. owner of Leess Design. “For a crisp look, feel the fabric to be sure, for example, that it can hold a ruffle.” A cotton duck like Ragtime Strie with chalk-crayon-like bands—from the Waverly Garden District collection will. “Select. something soft—such as chenille—for a romantic effect,” notes Leess. “Chenille jacquard adds a dimension you do not often achieve with a plain cotton or sateen,” notes Pamela Maffei- Toolan, vice president of design for the Waverly Lifestyle Group, “especially a solid with a carved texture and tone on tonecoloration.” Jacquard chenille, a romantic textile, marries dramatic dimension with a soft, luxurious hand. A new Waverly chenille collec- tion, Plush Patterns, includes French Quarter on the wall and top square pillow. Pasadena Stripe and Congress Park dress the bolster and bottom pillow. The medallion in French Quar- ter, framed by an Empirestyle vine motif from the Waverly Plush Patterns collection of chenille woven textiles, comes in Red, Green and Brown, each combined with Gold. Kingswood Paisley is a chenille floral-and-leaf tapestry inspired by a traditional paisley pattern. “Do not touch’ signs are for museums, glass and china stores— not fabric, bedding or furniture shops,” Maffei-Toolan remarks. “The textiles you live and sleep with have to feel good.” For more information about Waverly, visit www.waverly.com, or call 800-423-5881.
