Mark Alexander | Veranda Haiku

Veranda Haiku is a small-scale woven texture built from solution-dyed acrylic with a little polypropylene in the weave, made to sit outdoors and survive it. The repeat is tiny, three and a half centimetres each way, so the eye reads a close, even grain rather than a pattern. It has a dry, slightly crisp hand rather than the plastic feel outdoor cloth often carries. Mark Alexander have got it close enough to a natural weave that it works indoors as well.

The composition is 91 per cent solution-dyed acrylic with 9 per cent polypropylene, at a 142 centimetre width, with a 3.5 centimetre repeat both vertically and horizontally. It is rated at 20,000 Martindale rubs, general domestic. Solution dyeing puts the colour into the fibre before it is spun, which is why it holds against strong sunlight rather than fading over a season. Three colourways are made, Chestnut, Indigo and Sand, being a warm brown, a deep blue and a pale neutral.

We use Veranda Haiku on terrace seating and garden dining chairs, and on the cushions of a covered loggia where the furniture stays out through the year. Indoors it suits a window seat in a bright room that would bleach a linen within a summer. Sand pairs with teak and stone, and Indigo gives a terrace some definition against a white wall. Order a sample to see it in your own light, as outdoor colour reads differently under open sky.

The repeat is small enough to ignore for most purposes, but on large seat cushions we still align the grain so adjacent panels run the same way. Use an outdoor-grade thread, either polyester or PTFE, because a cotton thread will rot long before this cloth does, and fit quick-dry foam with a draining cover rather than standard upholstery foam. Railroad long bench cushions where the width allows, to avoid a centre seam, and allow a little extra for alignment across a set of matching chairs.

• Composition: 91% SD 9% PP
• Width: 142 cm
• Pattern repeat: 3.5 cm vertical, 3.5 cm horizontal
• Martindale: 20,000 rubs, general domestic
• Suitable for: Outdoor seating, terrace cushions, garden dining chairs, window seats
• Care: Dry clean recommended
• Collection: Veranda III, Mark Alexander
• Colourways: 3 (Chestnut, Indigo, Sand)