Mark Alexander | Amante Tie Back

Amante is a linen tieback, a soft flat plaited band finished with a loop at each end, made to hold a curtain back without crushing the fabric. The plait is worked loosely so the band has give in it and settles into the shape of the curtain rather than cutting a hard line across it. The linen is matt and undyed at the base. It is the least formal tieback Mark Alexander make.

The composition is 100 per cent linen and it is supplied by the half metre, so you can order the length a particular window needs rather than a fixed size. Two colourways are made: Dove, a soft warm grey, and Tempest, a deeper blue-grey. Both are quiet enough to sit against a pale or mid-tone curtain without becoming the thing you look at. The finished band has enough body to hold its loop shape when it is hooked back.

We use Amante on full-length linen curtains in bedrooms and garden rooms, hooked to a small cast pin set roughly two-thirds of the way down the drop. It also works on a single curtain at a door, where the tieback does real work rather than just dressing the window. Dove against a natural linen is the pairing we use most, and Tempest suits a room with blue or grey in the scheme already. Order a sample to see it in your own light.

Set the pin low enough that the curtain folds fall into a soft sweep rather than a tight pinch, and measure from the floor rather than from the pole, which is the reliable way to get a pair matching. Allow enough length that the band goes round the gathered curtain without compressing it, because too short and the leading edge creases permanently. Hand-stitch the loops rather than relying on a knot, and whip the raw ends of the plait so the linen does not work loose with use.

• Composition: 100% LI
• Sold by: the half metre
• Suitable for: Curtain tiebacks, door curtains, dressing windows
• Care: Dry clean recommended
• Collection: Accent, Mark Alexander
• Colourways: 2 (Dove, Tempest)