Mark Alexander | Flanders

Flanders is a plain linen left honest rather than over-finished. The yarn is slubbed, so the surface carries small irregularities that read differently as the light moves across it, and the cloth falls in weighty folds rather than crisp ones. At 162 centimetres it is wider than most plain linens we handle. Across a wall of curtains it reads as one quiet field of colour, the texture doing the work a pattern would otherwise do.

It is woven from 100 per cent linen in a 162 centimetre width, with no pattern repeat to allow for. The Martindale rub test puts it at 20,000, rated general domestic, which suits curtains, blinds and occasional seating rather than a sofa in daily use. Sixteen colourways run from Snow and White Sand through Flax, Silverbirch and Cement to Mole, Ink and Abyss. The pale end is genuinely pale and the dark end properly dark.

We tend to use Flanders for full-length curtains in a bedroom or sitting room, where the weight lets it hang without help. It makes good Roman blinds in a study or kitchen, where the creasing that linen always does reads as character. For seating we would keep it to a headboard, a loose cover or a bedroom chair. It sits well with limed oak, plaster and unlacquered brass. Order a sample to see it in your own light.

With no repeat, cutting is straightforward and nothing is lost to matching: order the drop plus hems and headings. The wide width means many windows take fewer widths than expected, so measure before committing. We would line and interline anything full length, because linen drops over time and interlining steadies it and gives the folds more body. Ask your curtain maker to let the cloth hang for a few days before the hems go in.

• Composition: 100% LI
• Width: 162 cm
• Pattern repeat: None — plain
• Martindale: 20,000 rubs — general domestic
• Suitable for: Curtains, blinds, light upholstery
• Care: Dry clean recommended
• Collection: Plainly III, Mark Alexander
• Colourways: 16 (Snow, White Sand, Flax, Silverbirch, Cement, Mole, Ink, Abyss and more)