materials and equipment

In my post of 18 August 2013 “Linen: Embroidery Fabric from Flax Fibers”, I explained the importance of using the appropriate materials when working Schwalm embroidery, and discussed the differences in linens. I have mentioned many times on my website that Weddigen linen is the best linen for Schwalm embroidery. However, I know that many of you have found it difficult to find Weddigen linen in your part of the world. One reason for this is that once Weddigen linen leaves Germany, the purchasing distributor (Weberei Weddigen does not sell directly to the public) can re-name it. This means that an internet search for “Weddigen linen” will not produce satisfactory results for the embroiderer looking for embroidery linen to buy.

Some days ago one of my customers emailed me with important news that I wish to share with you. Through her research and after corresponding with Weberei Weddigen, Access Commodities in the U.S., and Threadneedle Street store (also in the U.S.), she was able to ascertain that Weddigen linen is sold in North America under the Legacy linen line distributed by Access Commodities. She also learned that the most suitable linen in the Legacy line for Schwalm embroidery is “Alba Maxima” (approx. 40 tpi) which is sold at Threadneedle Street in Washington state and other fine needlework stores. Please note not all Legacy linens are suitable for Schwalm embroidery.

It is interesting to note that on Threadneedle Street’s website, the Legacy Alba Maxima is listed as a “Non-Evenweave Linen”, but it is indeed the Weddigen linen used for fine Schwalm embroidery.

If one is new to Schwalm embroidery, I suggest using a linen with approximately 34 tpi (13.5/cm). However, a suitable linen with this thread count is not easily found. For beginners who enjoy a little bit of a challenge, the Alba Maxima is perfect. And for those who have some experience and who love very fine embroidery Legacy’s Napery Ivory has approximately 50 tpi.

I would like to clarify some other points regarding the Weddigen linen used in Schwalm embroidery.
In most of my books I have stated “14/cm thread count linen”, but in my blog I have described this linen as “13.5/cm thread count linen”. The linen is described by Weddigen as “13.5”; I did not realize this when I started working on my books. I had simply carefully counted the linen threads on the piece of linen in front of me and found there were consistently 14 threads per cm, and so I described the linen as such in my books. I want to mention this because some time ago a lady visited me; she had bought Weddigen linen 14/cm thread count and, unfortunately, it was not the correct linen because it was not densely woven.

So, please be aware that you can work Schwalm embroidery on linens that have more or less threads per centimeter or inch (keeping in mind the scale of the motifs to be embroidered on the linen), but you will want to look for linen with plump threads that make the linen sufficiently dense. The linen should be as close to evenweave as possible, but some slight variation is permissible.

I hope this information will help you to find beautiful linen worthy of many hours of Schwalm embroidery.

PS.:
Just Mary Corbet left a comment providing the following information: “The Alba Maxima linen by Legacy is indeed perfect for Schwalm …..It can be found through several stores in the US online – Threadneedle Street (as mentioned), Needle in a Haystack, Hedgehog Handworks, Wyndham Needleworks……..”

PS 30.03.2014
Dione van Beynum told me, that she has all Weddigen fabrics in stock in her needleart shop in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. One can order online at http://thestitchersmuse.com

I prefer to embroider along printed lines (versus traced lines). However, not all designs are available pre-printed on linen, nor does everybody have easy access to the available pre-printed designs. So, sometimes one must look to other options.

An approved method of transferring a design to fabric is that of using iron-on pencils. I decided to test the products of well-known companies and to share those results with you.

I obtained three different transfer pencils from:
● DEKA
● Prym
● Clover

Prym withdrew the established blue transfer pencil from the market and replaced it with a red pencil (you might still find some Prym blue transfer pencils still on the market, or have one in your supplies).
The tests were performed on pure linen only. And all three companies note in their product descriptions that the pencils are suitable for natural fibers only and are not meant to be used on synthetic fabrics. Also, all three mention that the pencils should not be used to draw directly on the fabric, but should be used in iron-transfer applications only.

Two pencils have been sharpened as well as possible, for the third I exposed about 3 mm of the core.

For each pencil test, I secured a transparent sheet of paper over a simple heart design.

Then I traced the design with the particular transfer pencil. Using an ordinary pencil I marked crosswise and lengthwise guidelines outside the design and marked a cross at the center point. A short distance from the design, I placed a letter representing the respective pencils (P=Prym, D=DEKA, C=Clover).

The Prym pencil broke once and twice I had to lengthen the core. It also left behind small bits of core debris. This pencil would become used up relatively quickly. The DEKA pencil faded a little bit. And the Clover pencil produced a very light line.

Using a needle and thread, I prepared a 20 cm wide linen strip (Weddigen linen, 13.5/cm thread count) by marking the lengthwise grain, and then marking the crosswise grain spaced to accommodate the heart designs.

The transparent paper with the traced design was positioned face down on the linen, lining up the thread markings on the linen to the guideline markings on the paper. The paper was secured in this position (please do not use tape because the heat of the iron will melt it).

The iron was heated to medium-high and I transferred the design as often as possible.

From the Clover pencil, I got one good copy. The second copy was too light to use – even though I applied the iron for a very long time.

From the DEKA pencil I got three good copies, with the fourth becoming too light to use. Although not easily discernible in the images, the lines of the DEKA pencil are very much darker than the lines of the Clover pencil.

Using the Prym pencil I had to iron a very long time – near to scorching – to get a copy. But in all I got 5 good copies; the sixth was too light to use.

What is not visible, at first glance, but is certainly not desirable when working, is the thick lines produced with the Clover pencil.

I embroidered the most clear transfer from each pencil. The remaining transfers, I laid near a window to determine how the daylight and the sunshine would affect them. After only a few hours the Prym transfers faded significantly; the DEKA transfers lost some of their vibrancy; and the Clover transfers suffered the least change.

Over the heart outline I worked very densely placed Coral Knot stitches (using Coton à broder No. 20).

How to work Coral Knot stitches is described in great detail in my book “Basic Principles of Schwalm Whitework”. The progress of practicing such stitches can be followed by Kathy Andrews who is still perfecting the technique of Schwalm Whitework.
http://www.theunbrokenthread.com/blog/2013/09/25/white-coral-knots-lots-and-lots-and-lots-of-them/
And a video showing how to work the stitch can be seen here:
http://www.needlenthread.com/2008/07/video-tutorial-coral-stitch.html
However, please note that Mary Corbet´s Coral Knots are spaced too far apart for Schwalm Whitework.

The half circles I filled with densely placed Blanket stitches making half-eyelet scallops.

While working I saw no fading in the DEKA transfer.

As can be seen in the contrast of the primary outline to the outline of the nearly completed embroidery, the Clover pencil faded during embroidering.

With the Prym transfer, at first I had the impression that the Coral Knots had become pink; that was not the case. The impression of pink was due to the very wide outlines.

After working Chain stitches and filling patterns, I laundered the pieces. Soaked and treated with a bar of soap, all blue lines disappeared very quickly.
Although Clover warns in its product description that all lines have to be covered with stitches because they are not water erasable, all Clover lines are gone, as is the “C”.
Some more time was needed to remove the Prym lines. Washing powder and about 5 minutes of boiling were enough to erase these lines.

In the end all three hearts shined in trace-free pure white.

-what needleworkers—especially whiteworkers—should know about

The ultimate success of any handwork depends on the usage of the correct tools and appropriate high quality materials. The Schwalm Whitework embroiderer will want to pay especial attention that the quality of the linen is equal to the investment of time spent embroidering. Schwalm Whitework should not be worked on linen which will degrade easily.

Linen is much more stable than cotton or blended fabric. Hence, always pure linen should be preferred. Granted, linen is easily creased, but if starched and ironed—from slightly damp until dry —the embroidery and linen develop their true gorgeous elegance; a delicate shine and beauty emerges from the use of a premium material. (Tip: Never spin and never tumble dry, instead hang the linen so that it is nearly dry.)

Linen is a natural product and rates as the most sturdy and most environment-friendly of all fibers. However, not all linens are created equally. In this article I will discuss the differences in linens so that you can choose the best material for your precious embroidery.

But first, some basic background:
Linen fabric is made of linen threads. Linen threads are spun of flax fibers.

Erst klein wie ein Kümmel,
dann grün wie der Klee,
dann blau wie der Himmel,
am Schluss weiß wie Schnee

First small like a caraway seed,
then green like clover,
then blue like the sky,
in the end white like snow.

This small rhyme relates to flax. The shortness of the rhyme belies the complicated process of producing—from flax seed—linen fabric.

Sowing and Blooming

70 days after sowing, the small flax seed begins to bloom; it is ready to harvest about 30 days later.

Harvesting

To ensure the longest fibers possible, the plants are pulled from the earth with parts of the roots still intact.

Rippling

The seed pods and the leaves are separated from the stem. The seeds are used as oleaginous fruit in the production of Flax Seed Oil, or whole or ground for people following a healthy diet.

Retting

Retting is the process of releasing the fibers of the plant. The binding “glue” must be dissolved through a wetting process. It can be done by the dew on the field where the plants are laid out (dew retting), or it can be accomplished in shallow, standing water (retting pond or flax retting pit) where the plants are immersed. Another possibility is through a synthetic process (warm water retting).

Breaking

In this step a lot of the wooden content falls away leaving long fibers.

Scutching

This step of pounding the flax removes the last bits of wooden content.

Combing

Before the fibers can be spun, they must be hackled or heckled. This procedure, called combing, removes more and more of the rough and shorter fibers so that only fine long fibers remain. A good spinning mill sets great store by very thoroughly combed fibers.

Spinning

Spinning the long fibers is mostly done with a wet-spin procedure. Hand-spinners (of the past and even today) place small water bowls at the spinning wheels. This is so that the spinner can moisten her fingers to get a consistently fine thread.

Weaving

Linen is usually woven in the classic linen weave. For the warp a very regular yarn must be used; it is made stronger and more durable by applying starch and sizing. It is important that the yarn be regular because an uneven thread, with too large slubs, would catch and break too often by the rubbing on the weaving loom.

Finishing

First, the raw linen fabric is boiled, bleached and, if needed, brightened; sometimes it is also dyed. “Shrinking”, a special technique that pre-shrinks the fabric, is not used on embroidery fabric. It is intended that that fabric will shrink after finishing the embroidery. (After the first laundering the linen fabric shrinks about 3 % in the width and 8 to 10 % in the length.) This has two pros: first, embroidering is easier on un-shrunk linen; second, the threads of the linen fabric expand after laundering—its volume increases which enhances the appearance of the embroidery. Thoroughly ironed, one will get a piece of long-lasting beauty and quality.

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If you wish know more about linen, I suggest the following links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linen
http://flaxforsale.com/html/flax_story.html
http://www.youtube.com/user/attheHermitage/videos

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Some decades ago flax was cultivated by smallholder farmers in all countries with moderate climate (and all over Germany). All the many steps, from sowing to bleaching and sewing together the finished rolls for perfect storage in coffers, were done on the spot.

With the beginning of industrialization, linen spinning and linen weaving rapidly moved into the developing factories with mechanical spinning and weaving machines. Many regions here in Germany are famous for high-quality linen. The “Bielefelder” linen—established when “handwork” was strong—was top-ranking. But also linen from “Oberlausitz”, “Schlitz”, and many others had good reputations.

Today, large-scale cultivation of flax is only found in Northern France, the Netherlands (Zeeland) and in Flanders/Belgium—regions with maritime climates and long-cherished traditions. In these locales an especially long-fibered flax is harvested. Only good raw materials will result in good yarn. High quality fibers are predominantly spun in the spinning mills of France, Belgium, Hungary, Poland and Far East. No flax yarn has been spun in Germany for some years. Afterwards the linen yarn is woven. In Germany there are still some weaving factories at work, but they specialize in different linen qualities. The Hoffmann company in the “Oberlausitz” makes fabric for tables and beds, the Driessen company in “Schlitz” produces table, bed and kitchen linens, and the linen manufacturer “Achern” specializes in clothing and bathroom textiles.

Only a few weaving mills focus on the production of linen for needlework:
●“Vaupel & Heilenbeck” in “Wuppertal”, weaving linen bands,
http://www.vaupel-heilenbeck.de/de_Galerie__Ausstellung.html
●“Vieböck” in Austria producing linen for embroidery, but only coarser linen
http://www.vieboeck.at/de/produkte/meterware_accessoires.html
●Eugen Übelhör in Austria, weaving different embroidery linens
http://www.uebelhoer.at/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=32&Itemid=19&contentcategory=1
●“Zweigart & Sawitzki” in “Sindelfingen” offering linen for embroidery,
http://zweigart.de/sticken.html?cat=11&gewebeart2=255
And there are linen mills in Belgium and France, unfortunately I could not find their web pages, However, readers of this blog have provided me with the following information:
●Updatetd 2021: In France was the “Tissage Gander” producing pretty embroidery linen for Cross stitch and others. Tissage Gander went out of business after the owner, Michel Gander, passed away in 2017
http://www.tissage-gander.fr/
●In Belgium is the “Libeco”. “Libeco” has taken over the the leading company “Lagae” and produces “linen for the living in everyday”, but no embroidery fabric
http://www.libeco.com/en/about-us/welcome.aspx
●“Weberei Weddigen” in “Herford”
http://www.weberei-weddigen.de/

The Weddigen weaving mill produces bed, table and church linen and also fabric for embroidery. Many years ago, a specific linen was requested. With the assistance of embroiderers doing Schwalm Whitework, a special linen was developed and tested. It quickly prevailed on the market for this special embroidery technique and has turned out to be the most widely used linen for Schwalm. It is the Weddigen linen with 16 threads/cm count (item 925). In comparison to, for example, the 16 threads/cm linen from the Zweigart company, this linen has a higher fiber content (the threads are wider) and less space between threads (the distances between the single threads are smaller). Please see the enlarged comparison.

(Please keep in mind, we are speaking of 16 threads per centimeter, that means the difference per thread can only be a few deci-millimeter. Maybe it is clearer in the more intense enlargement.)

Perhaps you feel the difference to be marginal, but if you ever have worked with both qualities, you will come to realize very quickly which is best suited for embroidering Schwalm Whitework. Linen for Schwalm Whitework must be woven as densely as possible and must come from the mill that has experience in finishing the linen so that withdrawing threads is still possible. (Regular, loosely woven, utterly transparent counted-work fabrics are suitable for counted Cross stitch, but not for Schwalm Whitework.)

If one has at their disposal a linen with a higher mass of fabric thread, one can place the stitches more exactly. Thus the embroidery takes on a more orderly and perfect appearance. Also, when working filling patterns on more dense fabric, the single fabric threads do not pull together as much; the patterns develop more prominently.

For lovers of finer linen, Weddigen also produces embroidery linen with 20 threads/cm. Some less densely woven linen is the Weddigen linen with 13.5 threads/cm (item 160).

This finished and noble product awaits to be dispatched to many countries in the world. And maybe it will find its way into your skilled and dextrous hands and fingers from which will emerge real works of unique art.