A-z of soft furnishings: d - f

Today we move on to soft furnishings which include duvet sets, eyelet curtains and fabrics. In some way or another you'll have at least one, if not all three of these soft furnishings in your home.

D = Duvet sets: A relative new-comer within the world of interior design in the UK. Duvets originated in rural Europe where they were filled with eider down (feathers from the eider duck), and of course an expression – ''eiderdown'' - which would have been common to many of our parents or our grandparents, when eiderdowns were used as the last piece of bedding, today we use quilted bedspreads instead. Duvet covers is the name given to the fabric covering in which the duvet is inserted. Duvet sets typically mean that the cover, pillow slips and sometimes the bottom sheet or valanced sheet all match.

E = Eyelet curtains: Eyelet curtains, or a single curtain panel, have a heading which consists of a number of rings, usually metal, but can also be coated plastic, placed a equal distances across the top of the curtain. Eyelet curtains are hung by sliding curtain poles through the eyelets – the curtain pole/s are held onto the wall with curtain pole brackets which match the pole.

F = Fabrics: We all have some type of fabric in our homes, whether that be sofa and chair coverings, table cloths, napkins, bedding or window dressings. Available in vast array of colours, types and designs, fabrics play a fundamental role in making our homes comfortable. They add texture and colour in every room and its the choice of fabrics you use which makes each of our homes slightly different from our neighbours. We, as humans, first used fabric to cover our bodies, stone-age people and others throughout the history of the world used animal furs to keep themselves warm and hemp during the warmer months.

Through the centuries various sorts and types have been used from natural fibres such as cotton and silk. Nowadays we rely heavily on man-made fibres and fabrics for clothing and soft furnishings. The introduction of new manufacturing process continues to develop new fabrics, with Spandex and Lycra being the most well know modern fabrics. Wholesale fabric is a great way to find the type of fabric you need for a particular job, for us it's making curtains, Roman blinds and other soft furnishings for our homes, as well as fabric to make clothes.