Casamance | Guinguette

Guinguette is a wide-width voile that plays a glossy yarn against a matt one. Acrylic gives the sheen and a dull, slubbed yarn gives the body; the two are woven on a recycled polyester warp, and the result is a sheer with visible grain, a little like a coarse linen scrim held up to the light. It is not a flat net; there is movement in the surface, and that is the point. The name is the riverside dance hall of the Paris suburbs, which fits a collection about the city seen from the Seine.

The composition is 36 per cent polyester, 27 per cent linen, 19 per cent cotton and 18 per cent acrylic, woven in Turkey at 450 grams per square metre. The width is 302 centimetres and the cloth is designed to be railroaded, with that width used as the drop, and it is a free match. Three colourways: Perle, a pale grey-white that keeps a room cool; Grège, the natural option that suits most walls; and Marron Glacé, a warm brown that is unusual in a sheer and very good with dark timber and bronze fittings.

We use Guinguette as a full-width sheer on a run of windows in a living room, as a single layer on a landing window, and as a soft divider between a bedroom and a dressing area where a door would be too much. It works with linen plains and with the heavier Les Tisserands weaves from the same season. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

Order by track length rather than drop: measure the finished track, allow 2 to 2.2 times fullness for a wave heading, and add side hems. The 302 centimetre width leaves a usable drop of roughly 285 centimetres after hemming. Because the yarns differ in weight, ask your maker to let the made-up curtain hang for a few days before the final hem is set.

• Composition: 36% polyester, 27% linen, 19% cotton, 18% acrylic
• Width: 302 cm (119 in)
• Weight: 450 g per square metre
• Match: Free match
• Care: Dry clean recommended
• Origin: Made in Turkey
• Collection: Les Bateliers, Casamance
• Colourways: 3 (Marron Glacé, Grège, Perle)