Want to know how you can use toile designs in your house? If yes, then this article is for you. Toile is an interesting fabric, and the article will talk about its history, uses, and everything you need to know. So, let’s start!
What is Toile Design?
The word toile is not so common, and if you feel yourself dumb enough for not knowing this word, don’t be. Because it is from history, and not everyone knows much about history, right?
The word toile actually means fabric. However, toile is an old fabric but beats modern fabric designs in the race of class. Toile de Jouy or simply toile is a kind of fabric with some romantic or a fairly complex pattern like a couple enjoying a picnic by the lake or flower pattern.
These pastoral themes are printed on an unbleached fabric in a single color. Despite being an old fabric, it is loved and used worldwide.
Picture Credit: Cafeducycliste.com
Toile is mostly being confused with linen, but both the fabrics are different in their own way. However, both are light fabrics. But the main difference between them is that linen is and can be plain while toile comes differently printed.
History of Toile
Toile de Jouy has an old history. It was developed in Ireland in the 17th and 18th centuries and became famous in the 19th century. It was a cloth used by dressmakers, tailors, and designers to test their design patterns. Moreover, the fabric was cheap back then and so was used to practice the design multiple times to get the perfect output.
Toile came to Ireland after the launch of the East India Company in the 1600s when a skilled artisan Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf recreated cotton by coloring it. It turned out to be great and was loved by the people of the 19th century. After the East India Company launch, French people imported a large amount of Indian cotton.
The people of France loved the fabric as it was not like the fabric they were habitual of. It was way better than those fabrics. The demand for toile started to rise, and it became a serious threat for the French textile industries. So, they imposed a ban on cotton’s import in France. That’s where the invention of the toile took place.
Characteristics of Toile
Although toile is an extremely old fabric, it still has strong demand because of its unbeatable prints and patterns. No design of this modern era has been strong enough to replace toile. Some of the characteristics of this 500-year-old fabric are discussed in this article.
Highly Detailed
The natural and romantic pastoral theme is printed in a highly detailed way. Landscapes, flowers, and animals are the objects often seen as toile print. The details and the beautiful theme make it elegant.
Bold Colors
The patterns printed on the toile are simple, but the bold and vibrant colors add beauty to the fabric. When toile was just developed in the early days, it was limited to just selected colors. Now, toile fabric can be found in unlimited colors. The vibrant and bold color palette was much needed in the early days.
Extremely Cheap
Talking about the early toile days, the dressmakers used several sheets of toile to practice their designs as it was really affordable, unbleached white fabric. It was used widely by the people because of its low price and its quality.
How Can You Use Toile in Your House?
Toile is a beautiful fabric that is often used in houses for decoration. There are several ways in which you can use toile in your house. In the modern era, there are many products made out of toile for home decor.
Wallpapers
The most adorable way to use toile is to use it as your home’s wallpaper. The repetitive patterns on the fabric give an attractive effect to the wall. This style of using toile as wallpapers was adopted by the monarchs in France.
Clothing
Toile can be used as apparel and clothing such as shirts, gowns, dresses, skirts, and even suits. Toile dresses were worn in the early days in the midday parties, brunch, and kitty parties in Europe. It is still a viable option to use toile it this way.
Windows Curtains
To give your room a mature yet aesthetic look, you can use toile fabric as your window’s curtains. Along with curtains, it can also be used for draperies, kitchen aprons, and more.
Beddings
Another creative way to use toile is to use it as beddings, sofa covers, pillows and cushions, bedsheets, and blankets. This way, you can give your house a mature look.
Chinaware
Not only toile can be used in the form of fabric, wallpapers, or clothes, but it can also be used as printed tea sets, dinner sets, and antique showpieces. Toile work can be printed on antique house decor items to give your house a classy look.
Conclusion
Toile may not be the trendiest but the most classy fabric of all time. It has always been up to standard and elegance. Further, it has various uses, as mentioned above. The elegance of toile can be noticed by the fact that the world has not yet left it behind.
Well, we hope the information given in this article about the toile designs will be handy for you.
