This indigo-discharge printed furnishing cotton took some time to develop. Drawing began in September 1883 and trial printing was still in progress in March 1884. The design was finally registered on 28 July 1884. This large-scale design was named after the river running through Morris & Co.'s Merton Abbey Works. Morris wrote to his eldest daughter saying, 'if it succeeds I shall call it Wandle: the connection may not seem obvious to you as the wet Wandle is not big but small, but you see it will have to be very elaborate & splendid and so I want to honour our helpful stream.'

The repeat on this cotton is the largest Morris attempted for a printed textile, and the striped barber's-pole decorative effect has definite medieval origins. However, the main source of inspiration is a Genoese brocaded velvet of the 17th century acquired by the V&A Museum in 1883 (museum no. 442a-1883). The coincidence in timing of Morris's first drawings with the acquisition of the velvet by the Museum cannot be ignored. There are also strong similarities in design between 'Wandle' and the Italian velvet, with Morris substituting large stylised chrysanthemum heads for the crowns in the original pattern.