Zinda

I've been offered several pieces of white linen that had been purchased in Ireland. I've never worked with linen. Any ideas, advice or comments would be appreciated. Has any one used it for machine embroidery or added it to quilts?

kindleaddict63

Personally, I have some linen I bought to make napkins with (project not yet started). I will be researching into the pro and cons of washing linen first or after completion of project. So here are a few links to feast your eyes on:

http://www.fabrics-store.com/blog/20...linen-garment/

http://epiclinen.com/en/more-on-linen/linen-its-uses

I would imagine it will depend on the amount of linen you have that will determine what to make. Looking forward to other suggestions - hopefully someone who has actually worked with it can offer more suggestions.

quiltingcandy

I know nothing of the Irish linen - but I do know that my mother had several linen table cloths with matching napkins. After we used them and she washed them, she kept some in the freezer and would iron them dry when she wanted to use them. And she had one of those super big machines with the roller, a mangle, to iron it. She had several and once asked me if I wanted them, I said no way. But those were linens from before 1950.

Years ago, I did have a linen suit and it always went to the cleaners.

ckcowl

Linen, like cotton comes in many weaves ( thread counts)
So getting the pieces will help with deciding a use/ project. Tight weave linen is often used for table cloths and napkins ( linen is a Very strong fabric and takes a lot of use/ abuse/ laundering)
Linen is often a wonderful choice for cross stitch, hand ( or machine) embroidery, looser weaves can be used for rug hooking backing.... There are many uses for linen. Lightweight, wonderfully comfortable clothing, suits, dresses, skirts, pants. And, it is really Expensive! So, if someone wants to gift you some it is a Treasure!
Couple things when using for quilting.... Iron on the wrong side, or use a pressing cloth, direct heat ( can) cause *shininess*
There is no such thing as - permanent press - it needs ironing, pressing- wrinkles easily. When laundering it is best to remove from dryer before it is totally dry and iron dry the rest of the way.
There are linens that are thousands of years old.... It is tough stuff!

KLO

What a great question. Someone gave me a partial bolt of Irish linen a while back. I did make a curtain for my side door into the garage but nothing else yet. Kindleaddict63 thanks for those links!

Buckeye Rose

I would think it would ravel easily due to the looser weave....that alone would be enough for me to say no thanks!

elizajo

I sew most of my clothing from linen, purchased mostly from fabrics-store.com linked above. Recently I used their medium weight linen, IL19, for backing a baby quilt. I looked for tips online and didn't find much, so I relied on the knowledge gained from sewing clothes. My suggestions for quilting with linen: use for larger pieces on the quilt top with a 3/8" seam allowance. If you use it for backing, serge or otherwise finish the edges and joining seam. Quilt across the seams to secure the raw edges if you use it in the quilt top.

I pre-wash linen for garment sewing 3 times. At least two of the times I make sure it is dried completely in the dryer to allow it to shrink fully. If you air dry fully or partially after the last prewash, smooth it with your hands and allow to dry so that you achieve that perfect linen "rumple" texture. I prefer to cut linen in this relaxed state. If you must iron during cutting or construction, don't stretch out the fabric, just use up and down motions to press without distortion. I remove the selvedges before cutting.

I hope to make a whole cloth linen quilt.