Some days ago I received in the mail a sample of very fine linen. It is pure warp yarn linen – #180 with 20 threads/cm (50.8 tpi) – from the Weddigen weaving mill.
It is nearly an evenweave. I counted 20/18–19 threads/cm (50.8/45.72–48.26 tpi), as the enlarged detail below shows.
The linen has a nice “hand” and looks handsome.
At once I started to test it, and here is the result.
The linen is densely woven. The structure is clear with some typical linen slubs, as the photo on a light pad shows.
Withdrawing threads was easy in both directions. The thread did not break inside the 30 cm of my testing piece.
The subsequent withdrawn-thread line is clear without any fluff.
To test the stitching qualities, I transferred a small design; it will be shown in a future article.
Doing the prep stitches was pleasant. The needle glided smoothly through the linen.
Withdrawing threads was easy, and although my eyesight is no longer very good, I could do it wearing only my glasses; no magnification was needed.
After withdrawing the threads for the openwork grid, only a small amount of fluff remained. Viewing the grid, the slightly uneven weave is noticeable, but it is not at all distracting when working the filling patterns.
The dense weave enables one to place Satin stitches exactly where desired (please note that the picture below is greatly magnified and the piece has not yet been boiled),
and Blanket stitch eyelets (now seen boiled and ironed) can also be stitched with greater precision.
In all this is a wonderful fabric and a treasure for aficionados of fine linen.
