de Le Cuona | Primitive Linen – Garlic

Primitive Linen is a plain, natural linen with the slightly uneven, tactile quality that gives the fibre its character. In Garlic it is a soft, warm off-white, closer to the papery skin of a bulb than to a clean bright white. It does not shout. What it does is give a room a calm, textured surface, and in daylight the small irregularities of the weave catch the light and stop a pale cloth from looking flat. It is a cloth that rewards being touched, and it softens with use rather than wearing out.

Primitive Linen is 100% linen and 140 cm wide. It carries a Martindale rating of 20,000 rubs, which is a very respectable figure for a linen and puts it well within the range we would use for regular upholstery as well as curtains and cushions. It is sold by the half metre, so you can order exactly what your project needs and, if you are making a pair of cushions, buy only what you require. Garlic is reference PRIM2. We do not have a repeat to quote because this is a plain cloth.

We use a cloth like this in a number of ways. At the window, we would put it up as a pair of full-length curtains in a bedroom or sitting room, where it lets light through and softens the edge of the glass. On upholstery, it suits a sofa or armchair in a calm, layered room, and the rub count means it can take family life. As cushions it is ideal for pairing with something heavier. We would set Garlic beside deep browns, charcoal wool, dark timber or a stone floor, so the warm pale tone has something to lean on.

A few practical points for your maker. Linen can relax and move slightly, so we would ask the workroom to allow for this when cutting and hemming curtains, and to line them for a good hang and to protect the colour from sun. For upholstery, an experienced upholsterer will know how to handle the cloth so seams stay clean and even. Order the full quantity in one go so the shade stays consistent. We are happy to help calculate metres for you, remembering the 140 cm width and the half metre selling length.