Mark Alexander | Boucle

Boucle is a narrow linen braid with a looped yarn running along its face, so the edge it gives is small, nubbed and slightly irregular rather than smooth. The loops are close and low, which keeps it from catching or snagging the way a longer loop would. Linen makes the loops firmer and drier than a wool boucle would be. It is a quiet trimming, and it reads as texture on an edge rather than as decoration applied to one.

The composition is 100 per cent linen and it is supplied by the half metre. Four colourways are made, all of them pale: Jasper White, Ecru, Silverbirch and Cement, running from clean white through undyed linen to two soft greys. There is no pattern repeat along the length, so order the running measure plus an allowance. The braid is flexible across its width, which matters when it has to follow a curve, and the looped face hides stitching almost completely.

We use Boucle on cushion edges, around the border of a headboard, and along the leading edge of a plain linen curtain where a flat tape would look too severe. It is also good on an ottoman where the top seam needs softening. Ecru on undyed linen is almost self-coloured and very quiet, while Cement gives a slightly more defined line. Order a sample to see it in your own light.

The looped face makes Boucle forgiving to hand-sew, because the stitch taken between the loops disappears entirely, which is why we never glue this one. It eases round a curve readily without a mitre, and on a square corner we cut and butt the ends under a fold rather than trying to fold the loops back on themselves. Allow 10 per cent over the measured length for corners, returns and finishing, and bind the cut ends with a few stitches so the loop yarn does not unravel.

• Composition: 100% LI
• Sold by: the half metre
• Suitable for: Cushion edges, headboards, curtain edges, ottomans
• Care: Dry clean recommended
• Collection: Accent II, Mark Alexander
• Colourways: 4 (Cement, Jasper White, Silverbirch, Ecru)