de Le Cuona | Shepherd's Cloth – Midnight

Shepherd's Cloth is a plain, close-set linen with a dry, slightly nubbled hand, the kind of cloth that feels cool and substantial when you gather a length of it in your palm. In Midnight the colour is a deep, inky blue that reads almost black in low light and shows its blue only when daylight reaches it. There is no pattern, so the interest comes from the slub and the way the surface catches the light unevenly. In a room it behaves like a quiet, dark neutral.

The cloth is 90% linen and 10% polyamide, and that small proportion of polyamide is what gives it the strength to be used on a seat as well as at a window. It is 138 cm wide and has no pattern repeat, which keeps ordering simple. The Martindale is 40,000 rubs, a figure well above what most domestic upholstery will ever ask of it. It is sold by the half metre, so you can order exactly what a project needs.

We tend to use it for upholstery where a room needs weight, and it suits a deep-seated sofa, a pair of tub chairs or a headboard in a bedroom painted in a pale, chalky colour. As curtains it hangs with a soft, unfussy drape, and a generous fullness suits it well. We would pair it with a warm oatmeal linen or a sand-coloured wool on a neighbouring chair, so the darkness feels grounded rather than heavy.

Because the cloth has no repeat, there is nothing to match between drops, which saves both fabric and cost. Linen will relax slightly once it is made up and hung, so we ask workrooms to allow for a little movement in the length and to leave curtains a few days before the final hem is set. We usually line curtains in this weight to protect the colour from sun. For upholstery, ask your upholsterer to cut all the pieces in the same direction, as the slub gives the cloth a subtle grain.