Threads | Billow

Billow is a wide-width textured sheer from the Threads Meridian Sheers collection, woven mostly in linen with a little polyester for stability, and given a soft, structured surface by a 78 by 38 centimetre repeat worked into the weave itself. It filters light rather than blocking it, so a room reads soft and diffused by day, and at 296 centimetres wide most windows can be curtained without a single seam.

The cloth is 89 per cent linen and 11 per cent polyester, 296 centimetres wide, with a 78 centimetre vertical and 38 centimetre horizontal repeat. The page lists it for curtains; it is a sheer, so it is not a blind or upholstery cloth. It comes in three colourways, Polar, Marble and Silver Birch: Polar is the coolest, iciest white, Marble a warm, stone-like neutral, and Silver Birch a soft, pale grey.

We tend to use Billow as the inner layer of a two-track window treatment, with a heavier curtain or a blind behind it, or on its own on a long run of glazing where the width means no joins. It pairs well with a print from the Faraway collection on a chair or headboard nearby. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

Because the cloth is 296 centimetres wide it is railroaded: the width becomes the drop, so you buy the length of track times fullness rather than a number of widths. Sheers move with humidity, so allow a generous hem and let the curtains hang for a few days before final hemming; covers can be machine washed cool on a minimum wash or dry cleaned professionally, and cool ironed only.

• Composition: 89% linen, 11% polyester
• Width: 296 cm (117 in), wide width, railroaded
• Pattern repeat: 78 cm vertical, 38 cm horizontal
• Suitable for: Curtains, sheers
• Care: Machine wash cool on a minimum wash or dry clean professionally; do not tumble dry, do not bleach and cool iron only
• Collection: Meridian, Threads
• Colourways: 3 (Polar, Marble, Silver Birch)