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Syon Park Decorex 2014

Decorex Syon Park 5

Decorex returns to the wonderful venue of Syon Park this year, having spent 10 years there in the past. Nile & York will be showing on our stand, where both the Small Prints and the Small Linen Prints ranges will be on display. We look forward to saying hello and thank-you to all our customers and to introducing the ranges to the new ones.

Small Linen Prints Book

SLP PB

This is the new Small Linen Prints range finally put into its pattern book using the now familiar waterfall effect, and what a fantastic book it is.

The waterfall has become the Nile & York style of book and works well for the smaller prints.

The books are flying out of the door and we have already sent out many of the original batch. All the fabrics are now on the shelf, waiting to be cut, packed and dispatched, we are in the happy position of not having to wait for stock to come in.

A Question of Colour


Question of Colour 3

A question of colour, deciding which colours to include in the new Small Linen Prints range has been one of the most difficult aspects of the process.

We chose 34 colours for trial printing (the photo shows just some of them) and Helen Sanderson, joined us to make the final colour selection.

She has fantastic colour skills but it still took two days to make the range balance across the two base colours (bleached and scoured) and the different densities of design.

The reaction to the Small Linen Prints range so far suggests it has all been worthwhile.

Fabric Creation Process

The birth of a new range

Starting Point 2

With the most recent Small Prints book well established with increasing sales, we decided it was the right time to launch a second Nile & York range.

I met Ian, who is one of the Ian Sanderson representatives, to discuss what might be a good route to take with regards fabric, size of design etc.

His input was invaluable and during our meeting I very roughly drew a sprig for him to see where I was going to start, at the scale he suggested.

The photo shows the process from sketch, to putting the design into repeat when it had been drawn using the light box. The final result was Sorbus which can be seen in the Small Prints Range along with Macita, Gem, Track and Komon, all of which use the same elements, dots lines etc.

Nile & York Origins

SP 3 PB 1

The photograph shows the Pattern Books that have been produced in the past including what is now just named Small Prints.

The first pattern book (far left) was produced in the early 2000s with the help and considerable input from international interior designer Jane Churchill. It was made up of six designs produced in the same six colours, using the weight of the designs and the colour of the chintz finished ground to create 30 fabrics in the range.

In 2007-2008 Ian Sanderson asked if they could get involved and took on the job of distributing the range, which they did until September 2015. Two new designs were added and some removed to create a new book (centre) containing 25 fabrics across four designs.

The Small Prints range was introduced in late 2011-12 (was Book 3), adding another five designs to create a total of 63 fabrics, all of which of course are held in stock. Still manufactured in the UK, the Small Prints range has become something of a classic, with all the designs remaining in popular demand.