de Le Cuona | Desert Etching – White Clay

Desert Etching is a light linen from de Le Cuona, and in White Clay it is a pale, chalky, slightly warm white that is closer to dry plaster than to bright white. The pattern is an etched, softly broken design that reads like marks left by wind on sand. It is quiet at a distance and more interesting up close, which is how we like a sheer to behave. Hung at a window, it filters light and gives the glass a gentle, textured surface rather than a blank veil.

The cloth is 100% linen and 150 cm wide. The vertical repeat is 33 cm and the horizontal repeat is 150 cm, so the pattern runs the full width of the cloth and repeats only in height. It is sold by the 0.5 m, so you can order exactly the length you need in half-metre steps. The reference is DES1. We have not been given a Martindale figure for this cloth, as it is intended for curtains and sheers and not for upholstery, and we have not been told where it is woven.

We would use Desert Etching as a single layer at a tall window in a bedroom or a sitting room, where you want the day softened and the outlook kept. It also suits a large run of glazing or a stairwell window, hung generously and left to move. Pair it with a plain linen in oatmeal or stone for the leading edge, or layer it behind a heavier curtain in a muted green or deep clay for the evenings.

Linen is a natural fibre and will relax and may shift slightly once it is washed or hung, so ask your workroom to allow for this and to make up with generous fullness, around two to two and a half times the track or pole width. With a 33 cm vertical repeat, your workroom will need extra length to match the pattern across every width, so order more than the finished drop suggests. Make all the curtains from one batch, and keep any offcuts for tie-backs or repairs.