Josette Laura Ashley Fabric – All Colourways, Sold by the Metre
The Iconic Design Behind Josette – A Laura Ashley Classic
Josette laura ashley fabric sits at the top of one of Britain’s most loved home interior collections. Laura Ashley launched this design drawing from 18th century French chateau interiors, and the curlicue florals and damask pattern at its heart have made it a bestseller for decades. The design captures chateau elegance without feeling overdone, which is exactly why buyers return to it year after year.
Before you order, understand one important distinction. The Josette print is woven from 100% cotton and carries the design as a surface print on the fabric face. The Josette woven is a polycotton Jacquard weave, meaning the pattern forms as part of the fabric structure itself. The woven version is denser, more durable, and suitable for light upholstery. The print version is ideal for curtains, roman blinds, and cushion covers. Knowing which one you need before ordering saves you time and money.
Josette Laura Ashley Fabric — Available Colourways
Josette laura ashley fabric comes in a wider colour range than most buyers realise. Each colourway suits a different interior mood. Here is what you need to know about each one before you choose.
Dove Grey
Dove Grey is the most popular colourway in the range. It gives a soft, understated, classic feel and works in neutral living rooms, traditional bedrooms, and hallways. The white-on-grey print keeps it versatile enough to sit alongside almost any existing colour scheme.
Steel / Steel Grey
Steel Grey leans cooler and more contemporary. It suits modern interiors, home offices, and rooms with slate, charcoal, or navy accents. Both the print and woven Jacquard versions are available in this shade, giving you the choice between a draped or upholstered finish.
Duck Egg
Duck Egg brings a fresh, relaxed mood. It works particularly well in conservatories, coastal-style kitchens, and bathroom window treatments. The soft aqua base pairs easily with natural linen, whitewashed wood, and rattan furniture.
Truffle
Truffle is a warm, earthy tone that adds depth to dining rooms and statement living room curtains. This colourway reads as rich and grounded without becoming heavy. It is only available as a surface print on 100% cotton.
Midnight
Midnight is the most dramatic colourway in the Josette range. It suits bold bedroom schemes and formal living rooms where you want the window treatment to make a clear visual statement. It appears as a limited-run colour through selected retailers and on eBay as fabric lengths and remnants.
Off White
Off White gives the lightest, most airy feel. It suits light-flooded rooms and works particularly well as a voile layer behind a heavier blind. The contrast between the off-white ground and the soft printed design is subtle and elegant.
Amethyst
Amethyst brings a jewel-toned, romantic interior quality. It suits master bedrooms and dressing rooms where you want the fabric to carry warmth and femininity. This colourway also works as a contrast accent fabric on cushion covers when your main curtain uses a neutral Josette shade.
Seaspray
Seaspray is a pale aqua-green tone, softer than Duck Egg. It suits coastal and botanical interior styles. It reads as delicate and fresh, making it a strong choice for guest bedrooms and garden rooms.
Gold / Woven Gold
The Woven Gold colourway is from the Josette Jacquard range and delivers an opulent, formal finish. It suits grand living rooms and formal dining rooms. The metallic thread in the weave catches the light in a way the print versions cannot replicate.
Hedgerow Green
Hedgerow Green is a botanical, nature-inspired colourway suited to garden rooms and country cottage interiors. It pairs well with terracotta, burnt orange, and natural stone tile floors.
Technical Specifications — What You Need to Know Before You Buy
The Josette print measures 137 cm wide, which is the standard width for UK curtain fabrics. The vertical pattern repeat runs 66 cm and the horizontal repeat sits at 68 cm. These are large repeats, and they directly affect how much fabric you need to order. A large repeat means more fabric waste per drop unless you plan the cut carefully.
The print version weighs approximately 228 gsm, which makes it a medium-weight curtain fabric suited to unlined, standard-lined, and interlining applications. The Josette woven Jacquard carries an 18,000 Martindale rub test result, which qualifies it for light upholstery use such as occasional chairs, headboards, and footstools. The print version does not carry a rub test rating and is not suitable for upholstered seating.
For contract or commercial projects, FR treatment (fire retardant) is available on request from selected suppliers. Always confirm FR availability before specifying Josette fabric for a commercial interior project.
What Can You Make With Josette Laura Ashley Fabric?
Curtains — Eyelet, Pencil Pleat & Pinch Pleat
Josette laura ashley fabric works across all three heading styles. Pencil pleat headings gather the fabric tightly and show the most of the damask repeat across the full width. Eyelet headings sit the rings directly through the fabric, so position them at least 3 cm above any main motif to avoid punching through the design. Pinch pleat gives a structured, formal finish that suits the Gold and Truffle colourways particularly well.
Roman Blinds & Roller Blinds
The 68 cm horizontal repeat centres naturally across a standard roman blind width. Order with a hem allowance and centre the main motif at eye level for the most impact. Ready-made Josette roller blinds in Duck Egg and Steel are available from Laura Ashley directly, with blackout and thermal options included.
Cushion Covers & Scatter Pads
Off-cut lengths from curtain orders work well for cushion covers. A standard 45 cm square cushion cover requires approximately 0.5 m of 137 cm wide fabric, leaving you enough for a back panel. The Dove Grey and Duck Egg prints work well as coordinating scatter cushions alongside a plain upholstered sofa.
Light Upholstery — Occasional Chairs & Headboards
Use the Josette woven Jacquard (not the print) for any upholstery project. The 18,000 Martindale rub test rating covers occasional seating comfortably. For bedroom headboards and footstools, either the print or the woven version performs well given the low abrasion involved.
Craft, Patchwork & Quilting
Josette remnants sell regularly on eBay specifically for patchwork and quilting projects. The small-scale damask repeat within the larger curlicue floral design translates well into quilt squares and patchwork panels. A 0.25 m remnant gives you enough for multiple quilt pieces in a single colourway.
How to Measure and Calculate Your Josette Fabric Order
This is where most buyers make expensive mistakes. Follow these steps before you order a single metre.
Step 1 — Measure Your Window Width
Measure the full length of your curtain pole or track, not just the window reveal. For pencil pleat curtains, multiply that measurement by 2 to 2.5 to get your required fabric width. For eyelet headings, multiply by 1.5. This gives you the total fabric width you need across both curtain panels.
Step 2 — Measure Your Drop
Measure from the base of the curtain ring or the top of the track down to where you want the curtain hem to fall. Add 15 cm for the hem and 10 cm for the heading allowance. That gives you your working drop per panel.
Step 3 — Account for the Pattern Repeat
With a 66 cm vertical repeat, you must round every panel drop up to the nearest full repeat. If your working drop is 220 cm, divide by 66. That gives you 3.33 repeats, which means you round up to 4 full repeats: 4 x 66 cm = 264 cm per panel. Order at 264 cm, not 220 cm. Failure to do this leaves your pattern mismatched across the two panels.
Josette Fabric — Quick Reference Example
Two panels, 200 cm wide pole, 220 cm working drop. Fabric width needed: 200 cm x 2 = 400 cm. Divide by 137 cm fabric width = 2.9 widths, round up to 3 widths. Each width at 264 cm (rounded repeat). Total: 3 x 264 cm = 792 cm = 7.92 m. Order 8 m to cover joins and trimming.
(Reference: The Curtain Exchange measuring guide; Hillarys Blinds fabric calculation methodology)
Styling Your Home With Josette Laura Ashley Fabric
Josette in a Country Cottage Bedroom
Pair Dove Grey or Duck Egg print with whitewashed furniture, linen bedding, and aged brass curtain poles. Floor-length eyelet curtains in Josette with a matching small roman blind on a dormer window create a layered, considered look without overcrowding a compact room.
Josette in a Contemporary Living Room
Steel Grey woven Josette works well against anthracite walls and natural oak flooring. Hang the curtains on chrome or brushed steel poles and keep everything else in the room clean and simple. The damask structure in the fabric adds texture without introducing colour noise.
Josette in a Grand or Traditional Dining Room
Truffle or Woven Gold Josette fabric with a pencil pleat heading, wooden holdbacks, and an interlining gives a formal dining room exactly the weight and warmth it needs. Pool the fabric slightly on the floor for a full, dramatic finish.
Josette as a Bedroom Focal Point
Combine Midnight or Amethyst Josette curtains with the matching Josette Jacquard duvet set and printed or woven cushions for a fully coordinated bedroom. This approach, well documented by interiors writers at Ideal Home and House Beautiful, gives smaller bedrooms a boutique hotel atmosphere without requiring an expensive renovation.
Coordinate the Full Josette Collection
Josette Wallpaper
The Josette wallpaper is available in nine colourways, including metallic options with gold or silver backgrounds. It features chandeliers and rose bouquets within an ornate damask repeat, making it the natural wall partner for the fabric across all colourways.
Josette Ready-Made Curtains & Door Curtains
Ready-made Josette curtains are available in pencil pleat with a thermal lining. A door curtain version in the same print provides draught exclusion without losing the decorative quality of the design.
Josette Roller Blinds
Ready-made Josette roller blinds come in Duck Egg and Steel with blackout or thermal options. They are the fastest way to install the Josette design in a bedroom or kitchen where a curtain is not practical.
Josette Bedding, Cushions & Homeware
The collection includes Josette Jacquard duvet sets, printed cushions, woven cushions, metallic foil-print velvet cushions, 100% cotton knitted blankets, and towels in several colourways. These make coordinated bedroom and bathroom schemes achievable without sourcing from multiple brands.
Laura Ashley Accessories — Poles, Tiebacks & Trimmings
Complete the window with Laura Ashley curtain poles in brass, chrome, or antique finishes, and fabric tiebacks in coordinating or contrasting Josette colourways. The brand’s own accessories are designed to the same scale as the Josette repeat, which makes pole bracket positioning and tieback placement easier to calculate.
Order a Free Josette Fabric Sample First
Order a fabric swatch before you commit to multiple metres. Josette’s colourways photograph differently from how they look in a real room, and the difference between Dove Grey and Steel is subtle enough on screen to cause an expensive mistake in person.
Hold the swatch against your existing soft furnishings in natural daylight and again under your evening lighting before ordering. The print’s 100% cotton surface reflects light differently from the woven Jacquard, so always request the specific composition you plan to use.
Most authorised UK retailers offer swatches free of charge or at a nominal cost refundable against your order. This is the fastest way to confirm your colourway and fabric type before cutting any length.
Fabric Care — How to Look After Your Josette Laura Ashley Fabric
Josette Print Fabric Care
The 100% cotton print requires dry clean only care, as confirmed by Next’s official product listing for this fabric. Machine washing the print risks colour bleed, shrinkage, and distortion of the damask motif. Do not tumble dry.
Josette Woven Fabric Care
The polycotton Jacquard weave may tolerate a cool machine wash on a delicate cycle at 30°C, but always check the care label on your specific product batch before washing. Test a cut swatch first.
Blackout Lining Your Josette Curtains
The print fabric is a standard weight curtain fabric and provides no inherent blackout. A blackout interlining or bump interlining added by a curtain maker gives full light exclusion in bedrooms. This also adds body and weight to the curtain, improving the hang of the damask pattern when the curtains are drawn open.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Josette fabric discontinued?
No. Josette is an active Laura Ashley design available through multiple authorised UK retailers. Some older colourways such as Midnight and Amethyst appear through secondary sellers on eBay as remnants or roll ends rather than through main retail channels.
What is the difference between Josette print and Josette woven?
The print is 100% cotton with a surface-printed damask design. The woven Josette is a polycotton Jacquard where the pattern forms within the weave structure itself, making it heavier, more durable, and suitable for light upholstery.
Can Josette fabric be used for upholstery?
The Josette woven Jacquard qualifies for light upholstery at an 18,000 Martindale rub test rating. The print version is suitable for curtains, blinds, and cushions only. Do not use the print on upholstered seating.
Can I get Josette fabric FR treated for commercial use?
Yes. FR fire retardant treatment is available on request from selected suppliers. Confirm FR availability before specifying this fabric for any hospitality, healthcare, or commercial interior project.
How much does Josette fabric cost per metre?
The print typically retails between £18 and £28 per metre from authorised UK retailers. The Josette woven Jacquard sits at the higher end. Remnants and roll ends on eBay often sell for less, though colourway availability varies.
Is Josette fabric sold per metre or in full rolls?
Most authorised retailers sell it per metre with a minimum order of 0.5 m. Full rolls of approximately 22 m appear occasionally through trade suppliers and on eBay. You can order exactly the length you need from standard retail channels.
What width is Josette fabric?
Josette print and woven fabric measures 137 cm wide. Account for this when calculating how many fabric widths you need across a pair of curtains or a wide roman blind.
How do I match the Josette pattern repeat across two curtain panels?
The vertical repeat is 66 cm. Round every panel drop up to the nearest full 66 cm repeat before cutting. Both panels must start the cut at the same point within the repeat so the pattern flows continuously across the window when the curtains hang together.
Conclusion
Josette laura ashley fabric gives you one of the most flexible and timeless curtain and soft furnishing fabrics available from the British home interior market. The choice between print and woven, the ten active colourways, and the full coordinate collection in wallpaper, bedding, and blinds makes it possible to build a fully considered room scheme from a single design.
Order a swatch first, calculate your repeat before cutting, and match the fabric type to the job. Use the Josette print for curtains and blinds. Use the Josette woven Jacquard where you need durability. Do that, and Josette delivers exactly the chateau elegance and British heritage quality that has kept it at the top of Laura Ashley’s range for over two decades.
