But you must have the guts to use a lot of toile, to go the whole nine yards. And don't use another busy fabric along with toile. Instead, complement it with small checks and stripes or a plain, bold color. It's known for bold graphic designs, which run the gamut from floral to tropical to space-age atomic to cowboy. Barkcloth is very sturdy, and it's washable.
Today there are a lot of contemporary reproductions available.
You can find lots of pieces of vintage barkcloth in antiques stores. I need some help with fabric terminology. It's important to measure the pattern repeat if you want the pattern to match up on seams. If there are large patterns to match up, it could increase the yardage you need by as much as 20 percent. If you want to save money on yardage and don't care whether your patterns match up, don't worry about the pattern repeat.