Blue French Country Fabrics

Decorating with blue French country fabrics adds a certain je ne sais quois to your interior design. These fabrics, many of them reproductions of patterns from the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, come in a variety of motifs, from flowers to vines and the always-popular toile.

When you are looking for blue French country fabrics to add to your rooms, consider a few important details before purchasing:

1. Look at the wide variety of French blues available. There is a perfect shade out there that matches the rest of your interior decor
2. Decide what type of pattern you want: small florals, a country scene toile, traditional Provencal bees, a multi-hued pattern with yellows, reds, whites, greens and blues
3. Know what type of fabric you need. Are you covering a sofa? Making throw pillows? Drapes or a table cloth? You will want the thickness and durability of the fabric to match the use

Among the traditional florals that you can find at almost any quality fabric store, there are two very famous types of French fabric that you should know about before shopping.

Toile de Jouy, which is often just abbreviated as toile was created in 18th-century Jouy, France. It was first produced in Jouy-en-Josas by Christophe-Phillipe Oberkampf, a German entrepreneur. The factory he started produced toile de Jouy, a cotton fabric printed with engraved scenes of historical figures or landscapes.

Today toile usually consists of a white or off-white background upon which a repeating pattern of a pastoral countryside theme is repeated. Often, the pattern is printed in a single color such as black, dark red or, most often, in blue.

This style of fabric is perfect for upholstery, as drapery, or looks wonderful on small or large throw pillows for sofas or chairs. Toile wallpaper is also wildly popular and looks beautiful in a diminutive powder room.

This type of fabric is very traditional, and works beautifully in French country-style interiors, traditional interiors or Old World decors.

During the 17th century block-printed cottons from India became incredibly popular in France. These fabrics featured small florals in bright colors. In fact, the fabrics became so popular that the King banned their use, because they wanted the French people to purchase fabrics that were made in France.

However, the fabric designers of Tarascon in Provence began to produce copies of these fabrics, which were called Indiennes Provencales. After the French Revolution in the 18th-century the production of these fabrics declined, but were taken up again in the 1930s by a local family named Demery, who wanted to preserve the regional traditions of Provence and southern France. They put together an archive of nearly 40,000 of the original 18th-century printing blocks and opened a fabric manufacturing facility in Tarascon. The company was named Souleiado, which means "a ray of sun shining through the clouds after a rain."

Today, the Souleiado-style fabric is known throughout the world, and certainly the prints are an excellent depiction of the meaning behind the name.

There are many resources for finding blue [[Country French Style Basics|French] country fabrics. For the most part you should be able to find them at almost any local fabric store. However, for high-quality fabrics, here are some fantastic resources to help you in your search.

• Pierre Deux
• LePinParasol.com
• French-Treasures.com
• MarianneElizabeth.com
• GreenHouseFabrics.com

• Country Style Decorating Ideas
• Bathroom Design Pictures
• Interior Paint Color Combinations

• Country French Style Basics
• Common Themes for Teenage Bedrooms
• Designing for Small Spaces
• Basics of Color Design
• Asian Style Interior Design

• Country French Kitchen Decor
• Country Style Interior Design
• Country French Style for Your Kitchen
• French Inspired Home D%C3%A9cor
• Country French Style Basics