Mark Alexander | Embellir

Embellir is a linen braid, woven in one fibre with no filament thread running through it, so it stays matt and behaves like cloth rather than like a hard trim. The construction is close and slightly ribbed, with the linen yarn’s own irregularity visible along the edge. It is narrow enough to read as a line rather than as a band, which is what you want when the job is to finish an edge rather than to decorate it.

Composition is 100% linen and it is sold by the half metre. Six colourways: Jasper White and Ecru at the pale end, Moccasin a soft tan, Cement a cool grey, Chestnut a warm brown, and Indigo the only strong colour in the range. Because there is undyed linen underneath, each shade keeps a little of the fibre’s natural tone, which is why it sits well against natural cloths instead of sitting on top of them.

We use it most often down the leading edge of a curtain, set in a centimetre or two from the fold so it reads as a deliberate line. It works on the front border of a Roman blind, around a cushion where a piped edge would be too hard, and along the bottom rail of a loose cover. Chestnut on a pale linen and Cement on a grasscloth-toned weave are the two pairings we come back to. Order a sample to see it in your own light.

Hand-sew it wherever it will be seen: a slip stitch along both edges lets the braid move with the cloth, where glue stiffens it and shows through a fine linen. Glue is acceptable on a fixed pelmet or a hard-edged box, not on a curtain. At corners, mitre rather than fold, as linen braid is too thick to turn cleanly, and press the mitre before stitching. Allow 10 to 15 centimetres extra for each return and each corner, and cut long, because linen braid frays at the end.

• Composition: 100% LI (100% linen)
• Sold by: The half metre
• Suitable for: Curtain leading edges, blind borders, cushions, loose covers
• Care: Dry clean recommended
• Collection: Accent II, Mark Alexander
• Colourways: 6 (Cement, Chestnut, Indigo, Moccasin, Ecru, Jasper White)