Here at The Fabric Store, linen is one of our favourite fibres! As well as being super easy to sew, linen fabric has a lovely earthy feel, starting off crisp and softening beautifully in time with wash and wear. Because linen is inherently strong, products made using linen have a long life-cycle, reducing wastage, and once the life is well worn from the linen, it is biodegradable and recyclable. Our Exclusive Linen colour range is available to purchase online and in stores, in a spectrum of over 30 beautiful bright and soft shades across these styles. We recently introduced our beautiful new Vintage Finish range, featuring a uniquely ‘worn-in’ look and super soft handle. This finish is achieved through careful selection of Belgian-origin flax fibres, a specialised spinning process and a cold-pad batch dyeing system. We’re working towards moving all of our current midweight linen colours across to this new quality, with 7 of our most popular colours arriving in the first February 2020 drop.

Linen is widely considered one of the most environmentally responsible fibres that is readily available. It is made from the cellulose fibres of the flax plant, which grows naturally and requires very little energy and water resources to grow and process, and because the entire plant is used for production, there is no waste footprint. The flax plant is gentle on the land, and can easily be incorporated into crop rotation cycles to prevent soil depletion, or can be grown in areas that are not suitable for growing food crops, ensuring the environmental impact on the land is minimised.

Our new Vintage Finish Linens feature a uniquely ‘worn-in’ look and super soft handle. This finish is achieved through careful selection of Belgian-origin flax fibres, a specialized spinning process and a cold-pad batch dyeing system, certified to OEKO-TEX Standard 100.

OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certification ensures that every component of the finished textile has been tested for harmful substances in human ecological terms. OEKO-TEX has globally standardised testing criteria and follows rigid independent testing. To find out more about OEKO-TEX, visit their website here: https://www.oeko-tex.com/en/our-standards/standard-100-by-oeko-tex

We work with a company based in Hong Kong to produce this collection. We chose them to produce this range based on an existing, trusted relationship purchasing designer deadstock fabrics, as they also mill fabrics for a number of high end ready-to-wear fashion brands based in New York and Europe. Our Vintage Finish Linens are dyed by a cold-pad batch dyeing method which requires far less water usage and energy consumption, no salts or humectants and no bio-polishing. This is a slower process with smaller dye batches per colour, allowing the mill a greater degree of control and accuracy.

Our original plain weave Midweight and Heavyweight Linens are produced by a family- owned company based in Hong Kong, with yarns spun from European-sourced flax fibres. Much the same as our Vintage Finish range, we also chose to work with them on our exclusive linen range based on an existing deadstock supply relationship, coupled with the fact that they are compliant with China REACH Regulations.

China REACH is a regulation developed by the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection, and is modelled closely on the EU REACH regulation. China REACH focuses on improving the health of workers and environmental effects by regulating the use of hazardous chemicals in manufacture. For more information on China REACH visit the following website: https://www.chemsafetypro.com/

One of the things we love about linen is its versatility! Linen can be used for a myriad of different project types including a huge variety of garments such as dresses, skirts, shirts, jackets and trousers, to homewares and soft furnishings, childrenswear and accessories. Check out an array of different pattern reviews, DIY posts and guides using linen on the blog!