DESIGN Once Upon a Mattress

when dallas interior designer charlotte Comer goes to France and England to shop for fabric, does she seek out extravagant silks and luxurious satins? Nope. She’s on the prowl for lowly, mundane mattress ticking.

She’s not alone. According to Comer, designers, collectors, and manufacturer’s reps from Europe and the United States are hot for increasingly rare 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century examples, no matter their condition. Designers use large pieces for upholstery. Collectors stack folded lengths of it in cupboards. Fabric houses copy colors and patterns from vintage pieces for their own reproductions.

“There’s just an endless variety,” says Comer, who collects French ticking for herself and to make into pillows for clients. Ticking is found most often in colors popular during the early 19th century: red, black, blue, brown, and, rarely, green, on a natural creamy background. Most are twill weaves made of linen or cotton.

“The cloth is heavy so the stuffing-feathers, down, or straw-couldn’t penetrate,” she explains. “It’s wonderful for upholstery because it’s so heavy. Sometimes you can find a piece big enough to cover a chair. ” More often, however, Comer’s workroom sews ticking into decorative pillows trimmed with antique buttons and fringes.