Mark Alexander | Synamay Stitch Wallcovering

Synamay Stitch is a natural-fibre paper from the Collage IV collection with a visible line of stitching worked across it at regular intervals. The synamay ground is fine and slightly translucent, with an open weave that lets the backing tone through, and the stitch sits on top of it as a real raised thread rather than as a printed line. You can see the needle holes. It is the sort of detail that only registers when someone is standing close to a wall, which is precisely when it earns its place.

Rolls are 91 centimetres wide and 10.97 metres long, with a 90 centimetre vertical repeat set by the stitch spacing. Three colourways are offered: Natural, the undyed warm neutral; Metal, a pale cool grey; and Atlantic, a deep blue. Natural and Metal are the ones we use across whole rooms and Atlantic on a single wall. Panel-to-panel colour variation is inherent to the fibre and should be planned for, and reversing alternate drops helps to distribute it evenly.

We use this in dressing rooms, studies and bedrooms, and particularly in a room where the walls are seen close to, beside a desk or behind a bed. It suits plain linen curtains and pale joinery, and we would keep other pattern out of the room. The stitch lines run horizontally, so they do nothing to raise a low ceiling; in a room with limited height we would use a plain grasscloth instead. Order a sample to see it in your own light.

Hang paste-the-wall, butting the drops rather than overlapping them, and take care with the stitching at the seams. Line the rows up across the join before you smooth the drop down, as an offset stitch line is immediately obvious. Keep paste off the face, because the fibre will not clean. Order all rolls from one batch, check the number on every label, and add a spare roll, since a later batch will not match.

• Roll width: 91 cm
• Roll length: 10.97 m
• Pattern repeat: 90 cm vertical
• Application: Paste-the-wall
• Suitable for: Dressing rooms, studies, bedrooms, small halls
• Care: Wipe gently with a soft, dry cloth
• Collection: Collage IV, Mark Alexander
• Colourways: 3 (Atlantic, Metal, Natural)