Lelievre | Insouciance

Insouciance is a fine, plain-woven voile, light, soft and slightly textured rather than glassy, so it diffuses daylight without going flat white. It has enough body to hang with a gentle fold rather than clinging, which is what separates a good sheer from a cheap one, and it moves easily in front of an open window without looking limp.

It is 100 per cent Trevira CS polyester, so the flame-retardant performance sits in the yarn rather than a topical finish, which matters for a sheer that is likely to be near a heat source or in a rented property. At 314 centimetres wide, it is one of the widest cloths in this drop. There are two colourways, Écume, a soft sea-foam white, and Fleur d'Oranger, a pale warm cream, both close enough to read as neutral behind a heavier curtain.

We use sheers like this behind a pair of full-length curtains to soften direct light and give privacy without blocking the view, and on their own across a tall or wide window where the scale of the glazing is the whole point of the room. It works particularly well layered under a heavier plain from this same drop, or under a patterned curtain where the sheer keeps the daytime look calm. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

The real advantage of a 314 centimetre width on a sheer is that it lets you run the fabric sideways and cover a tall or wide window in one seamless piece, with no horizontal join catching the light the way a pieced sheer does. We would always ask for a generous fullness, two and a half to three times the track width, and a light hem rather than a heavy one, so the cloth keeps its softness.

• Composition: Polyester (Trevira CS) 100%
• Width: 314 cm (124 in)
• Suitable for: Curtains
• Care: Wash ≤30°C, do not bleach
• Colourways: 2 (Écume, Fleur d'Oranger)