Handwoven Linen (F I) in the Test

By on 23. May 2025   /   blog, materials and equipment, tips and tricks   /   Leave a comment

I’m currently testing old, handwoven linen for its suitability for Schwalm whitework.

Handwoven linen is the ideal base fabric for Schwalm whitework. On these traditional fabrics, the embroidery develops a more three-dimensional effect than on industrially woven linen, as demonstrated by comparing the same pattern on the two substrates.

Even if the photos are not very good and clear, you can still see the difference in the unfolding of the embroidery between the industrial

and the handcrafted fabric


However, there are huge differences in the quality of handwoven linen. Many of the fabrics still found today are completely unsuitable.

Therefore, it’s advisable to test the linen before starting a larger project. If the initial tests are positive, you should examine its further properties with a small sample embroidery.

For example, you can pay attention to the following points:
1. General appearance – width; original condition or already washed?; frequency of thickening and fabric defects
2. Appearance of the fabric threads
3. Stains
4. Feel test
5. Evenness of the fabric
4. Thread withdrawing
6. Needle glide

The linen is in the original condition of the bale it was sewn into after production. It has smooth selvedges and shows the stitches used to sew the bale together in two places. After unpicking the stitches, larger holes remain visible approximately 2.5 cm deep toward the center of the fabric – but these are only small spots on the overall large piece of fabric.

Approximately 100 cm had to be trimmed off at the beginning and end of the bale because the linen was too distorted there.
The linen is 70 cm wide – a typical width for handwoven linen.
It feels firm, but not too stiff. I would describe the handle as medium-firm.

The linen shows heavy dirt on the fold and (mostly lighter) stains over the entire surface. This is also common for linen that has been stored for many decades.

After a quick wash, all of these stains disappeared.

The following photos are highly magnified, making the aforementioned stains appear worse than they actually are.

The weave is very dense, and the threads used vary in thickness. I count 15 to 18 warp threads and 17 to 20 weft threads per centimeter.

The threads are usually clearly separated from each other – a sign that they can be withdrawn easily.

But there are also areas with matting.

Every now and then (perhaps once per meter) you will find thread thickenings

and also weaving errors.

The warp thread was relatively easy to pull out without breaking. When pulling out the weft threads, they usually broke after about 3 to 5 centimeters.

To test the linen during embroidery, a small motif (18 cm x 11.5 cm) is ironed on and embroidered.

Because the linen is so tightly woven, the needle can’t glide through the fabric effortlessly. But after a few stitches, you’ll get used to it. Embroidery on handwoven linen is usually a bit more strenuous than on industrially produced linen.

Thread withdrawing in the motif areas worked well. However, I had to use a magnifying glass.

The Limet thread grid appears relatively uniform despite the different fabric thread thicknesses.

One can embroider many beautiful filling patterns into the comparatively small heart area of ​​4 cm width.

The density of the linen allows for precise surface embroidery.

The small embroidery looks great on the linen.

All stains have completely disappeared. The weaving flaw is unnoticeable, and the thickened threads don’t detract from the overall appearance. A somewhat irregular texture is typical of handwoven linen and contributes to the fabric’s appeal.

See also:
Selling Handwoven Linen (1)
Testing Fabric Suitability for Schwalm Whitework
Linen: Embroidery Fabric from Flax Fibers
Fault in the Linen – what to do? (1)

Back to Top

Selling Handwoven Linen (1)

By on 19. January 2024   /   blog, materials and equipment   /   7 Comments

Initially, Schwalm whitework was only done on hand-woven linen because that was the fabric that was produced in the region. The hand-spun threads used for this are often more uneven in thickness and twist than machine-spun threads. This makes the fabric made from it appear more structured and interesting.

Such linen has the advantage that it does not wrinkle as easily as machine-woven linen. It is usually very tightly woven and therefore heavier. Projects made from it are easy to iron, and blankets and runners sit well on tables.

But as with all handmade products, there are big differences. There are also many hand-woven linens that are not suitable for embroidery. The threads are too uneven in warp and weft, which does not allow for a pleasing pattern. Or they are only very slightly spun so that the threads fall apart when pulled out. Or they have thickenings that are too thick, making it almost impossible to pull out the thread. Some of the fabrics, which are now more than a hundred years old, have been stored incorrectly, causing the fabric to fall apart. The linen rolls have often become stained over the years. Not all stains can be washed out.

Most linen was woven with a width between 60cm and 75cm. Wider linen is difficult to find and is therefore much more expensive. Often the first and last meter of the role is warped due to the tautening,

so that these sections can no longer be used for embroidery.

(I found an interesting article with informative images about the production of hand-woven linen, but unfortunately only with German text.)

I bought a role of linen with a width of 92 cm and have already done some embroidery on it, like this large wall hanging.

In my next blog post I will show a pillowcase made from this linen.

You have to get used to embroidering on hand-woven linen. You usually find it more difficult at first. I’ve also had linen that almost required pliers to get the needle through the fabric. It’s too tiring and not fun.

The linen presented here can be embroidered quite well. The threads are easy to withdraw and the embroidered patterns have an impressive effect.

The number of threads varies 13/16

or in other areas also 15/17, as you can easily count in the 1cm² magnifications.

The fabric has irregularities

and light stains, which disappeared without difficulty when washed.

Even the dirt in the fold from lying for so long was gone after washing.

In Germany and the surrounding countries, everyone can go looking for hand-woven linen themselves. In many other countries or parts of the world this is not possible. So I received inquiries as to whether I could offer old, hand-woven linen. I hesitated about it for a long time. But now I have decided to test old, hand-woven linen by embroidering it and then offer it for sale.

This particularly wide linen is ideal for sofa cushion covers in sizes from 40cm X 40cm to 45cm X 45cm, as the linen only shrinks minimally.

Good linen has its price, the meter costs €41.65 (including 19% VAT) This is €35 for people out of the EU. In return you get a material that will probably no longer be available very soon and you don’t even need half a meter for a pillowcase.

Back to Top

White Striped Linen

By on 24. March 2023   /   blog, materials and equipment   /   Leave a comment

When looking through my linen stock, I came across a small supply of white striped linen from the Weddigen company. It concerns the following article:


#926 W, width 185 cm, 16 tpcm, 100% linen, 4 pattern repeats/m – after laundry

According to the manufacturer, the linen has a shrinkage of approx. 8% to 10% in length and 3% in width. The stripes were created by weaving in thicker threads, as the high magnification shows.

The stripe looks like this:

Unwashed, a stripe is 10 cm wide. The stripes are spaced 18 cm apart on the fabric.

I pulled a thread out of the fabric.

The thread could be easily withdrawn over a long distance. Only a few pieces of fluff remained in the thread line.

A few rows of Four-Sided stitches were quickly embroidered

to try Peahole-

and needle-weaving hem.

Both harmonize very well with the stripes.

I am selling this linen for €10.08 + 19% VAT = €12.00 per stripe (=28 cm x 185 cm)
or in cuts of 56 cm (2 stripes) x 90 cm at a price of €10.92 + 19% VAT = €13.00.

Please email me with your request.

In my next blog post I will show an example of how I processed this linen.

Back to Top

Natural Coloured Linen of the Übelhör Linen Mill

By on 3. December 2021   /   blog, materials and equipment   /   Leave a comment

Unfortunately the Weddigen company no longer weaves natural coloured linen. For some special projects I looked for another source.

The Übelhör linen mill from Austria weaves a natural coloured linen. It is pure linen, but durable pressed (i.e., processed to resist wrinkles).This linen comes in two different thread counts – 14/cm and 16/cm. It is nearly evenweave.

The linen is not as heavy as the linen I commonly use. The fabric has a pleasant, soft feel. Meanwhile I embroidered a couple of projects using the 16/cm thread count linen. Embroidering it is nice. Thread withdrawing is easy, but one has to be careful that not further thread slips out then the wanted thread part or the weave of the remaining fabric gets damages.

The advantage of this linen is its durable pressing. This makes it unsusceptible to creases. It should not get a laundry of more than 60° C. However, after the first wash I got a slight shock: Although only washed lukewarm by hand, gently squeezed out and immediately spread out to dry flat, many wrinkles appeared. Sprayed with a little “ironing aid”, the linen became perfectly smooth during ironing.

In the near future I will show details of one of my projects worked on this linen.

Back to Top

Design Transfer – Test 3

By on 12. November 2021   /   blog, materials and equipment, tips and tricks   /   2 Comments

In the near future, I want to address the different ways in which embroidered pillowcases are made.

Old hand-woven linen is best for embroidering pillowcases because it is not susceptible to creasing. Now I have been looking for an alternative for the embroiderers in countries where one cannot fall back on “household linen”. At the weaving mill Übelhör I found what I was looking for with durable pressed natural coloured linen.

My preferred method of transferring patterns onto the linen is ironing them on with a DEKA iron-on transfer pen. However, it requires heat. The durable pressed linen, however, cannot withstand great heat. So I looked for other transfer solutions.

During my exhibition in September there was enough opportunity to exchange ideas about the different transfer methods used by the embroiderers. I’ll test some of them over time. Here is my experiment with a non-permanent pen from Staedtler. In contrast to the FriXion rollerball pen from Pilot, the colour can be completely washed out and does not reappear later.

Caution! I have just received a call from an embroiderer who has worked with the pen several times. She reports that the composition of the ink has been changed and the colour of the newer pens can no longer be washed out. So please check on a small test piece before embroidering whether the colour of your pen can be washed out or not.

With the help of a light pad, the pattern was transferred to the linen. The natural tone of the linen is swallowing light much more than white linen, and will not allow the design lines to show through without bright lightning.

The constant up and down of the pen point crossing the threads made my lines a little bit wobbly. This I found it disturbing.

The lines turned out fine and clear, the colour is strong and lasts until the end. The pen is available in many other colours – I just happened to have a green one on hand – and also in different widths. “F” should be the most suitable for the design transfer.

After embroidering, I put the motif in lukewarm water, and the colour immediately dissolved.

After a short time, the soap suds was coloured green.

Only a very short rubbing was necessary to wash the last remains of the ink from the linen.

The result was a clean fabric from which the outlines could be completely washed out in a very short time. If the wobbles weren’t created while tracing, this would be a perfect way to transfer designs.

Back to Top