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Fabric
Fabric Cabinets

We carry an extensive assortment of fabrics in our well stocked fabric cabinets. While we might not have every count in every color in stock, we are happy to special order most fabric if we don't have what you need.

If you'd like to read our Hand-Dyed Fabrics Primer - Dyeing, Washing and general Fabric Content we have a special collection of newsletter articles combined into one article for your reading pleasure.

In most cases our fabric is not pre-cut and we sell fabric in the following cuts. While fabric widths vary by vendor and type of fabric, these are the most common examples.

Fabric Cut Dimensions 42" width 54" width 72" width 
Stitcher's 1/8 18" x quarter the fabric width 18" x 10.5" 18" x 13.5" 18" x 18"
Stitcher's 1/4 18" x half the fabric width 18" x 21" 18" x 27" 18" x 36"
Stitcher's 1/2 36" x half the fabric width 36" x 21" 36" x 27" 36" x 36"
Stitcher's yard 72" x half the fabric width 72" x 21" 72" x 27" 72" x 36"
Regular 1/2 yard 18" x fabric width 18" x 42" 18" x 54" 18" x 72"
Regular yard 36" x fabric width 36" x 42" 36" x 54" 36" x 72"

Some fabrics come in odd widths so they will have different cuts than those listed above. Usually the online catalog will have the details, but you are always welcome to confirm the physical size of a cut with it when you order. All fabric can be edge-finished free of charge on our serger so you are able to start stitching right away!

For your convenience, we've put together an Industry Fabric List of common fabrics, their manufacturer, count and fiber content. It was updated in 2011, adding new fabrics and removing discontinued ones. If you're looking for the fiber content of an older fabric we have archived our 2002 Fabric List and 2004 Fabric List which contain some of the older fabrics. This is a reference document you're welcome to pass on to friends.

If you're not sure how to calculate your fabric requirements for a project you might want to print the Fabric Calculation Guide, which gives you the math formulas for doing this yourself. If you're not sure what you need you can always let us know the stitch count for your project and we can do the math.

The documents above are in Adobe Acrobat® (PDF) format and you can either view them on the screen, or print them. If you don't have the Adobe Acrobat reader installed on your system, click on the button below to download it from the Adobe web site (we recommend version 4.0 or higher).

Get Acrobat Reader

Terminology

Aida and Aida Weaves (e.g. Tula) are woven so there are "blocks" in the fabric. With these fabrics you stitch over 1 block. Aida is generally made from cotton and the Aida Weaves from other fibers.

The real meaning of "evenweave" is a fabric where the warp and weft are the same count. So any 28 count fabric, whether it's linen, cotton or something else is an even-weave as long as it's 28 count in both directions. There are almost no uneven-weaves on the market these days, as they are no longer being produced. However, "evenweave" has generally come to mean fabrics like Lugana, Jobelan and others where the diameter of the fabric threads are consistent. In this case "even" is taken to mean "consistent".

Many of our embroidery linens (linen twill, ecclesiastical linen, Cambric, etc.) are not counted fabrics and are best used for techniques like embroidery, gold work, crewel work, shadow work, etc.

Linen & Linen blends

Many customers ask about the differences between the various types of linen on the market. Two of the most common linen manufacturers or distributors are Zweigart and Wichelt Imports (Permin). Zweigart linen has a soft hand and the fabric threads are plump, making the fabric fairly opaque. Wichelt (Permin) linen tends to be somewhat stiff and the fabric threads have more of a thick/thin quality making its appearance more sheer. The exception to this is Wichelt's Country French Linen and their hand-dyed linens which have a softer hand. The are some common colors between these two lines (e.g. White, Antique White, Cream/Ivory, Raw/Natural) although there are many colors that are only found in one or the other.

Studio Line (aka Northern Cross (Belgian linen)) is a slightly stiff linen with somewhat flat fabric threads and works fine for dimensional projects (it can be used as a substitute for Brussels linen which we can no longer obtain). Weeks Dye Works linen is hand-dyed Northern Cross for their 30 and 35 count.

Lakeside Linens, Picture This Plus, Fiber on A Whim, Fox & Rabbit, Tabby Cat and Weeks Dye Works are all hand-dyed or hand-painted fabrics. These dyers use linen from one of the linen producers to dye - they do not make their own linens.

Legacy linens have a soft hand with very plump fabric threads and are excellent choices for table linens. We carry Graziano linens and have 53/63 count, 45 count (Florence), 38 count (Ricamo), 30 count (Assisi) and 14 & 18 Linen Aida (100% linen). We also carry several types of Sotema linens from Italy. We have 30, 37 & 48 counts sold as part of the Legacy Linens range.

Legacy Linens have different names for all of the fabric colors/counts. Below is a table for colors that are the same but have a different name in each count. If the color isn't in this list it doesn't have a match in another Legacy count.

Legacy Linens - Sotema; 30, 37 & 48 count
30 count
37 count
48 count
Honey Glaze
Wild Honey

Swan Feather
Aestectic White

Victorian Sponge Cake
Russian Tea Cake
Marchpane


Legacy Linens - Graziano; 30, 38, 45 & 53/63 count
30 count
38 count
45 count
53/63 count

Irish Coffee
Thai Iced Tea


Himalyan Fog
Hazy Summit


Fuller's Teasel
Foxtail Millet


Eiderdown
Snowbound



Woven Sedge Sand Castle


Scriptorium
Manuscript Vellum
Swiss Cocoa
Filbert
Nightingale
Waffle Cone

If we are out of a fabric we can usually reorder it, although in some cases the vendor has discontinued the fabric so we might need to find you a substitute. Visit our online catalog Fabric page for information on ordering times for most fabrics.

Evenweaves aka Jobelan/Lugana/Jazlyn/Verdal

Most of the "evenweaves" on the market are made from cotton or some mix of cotton and another fiber. What distinguishes them from linen in particular is their fabric threads uniform in diameter. This is generally a by-product of them being made from cotton. Jazlyn & Lugana (Zweigart) are 52% Cotton/48% Rayon. Jobelan (Wichelt) is 51% Cotton/49% Rayon). Zweigart started producing a 40 count evenweave in 2016 called Verdal (which is softer than Lugana).
 
Embroidery Fabrics

We also carry a number of non-counted fabrics for surface embroidery. Embroidery fabrics include Kingston Linen, several Legacy Linens and linen twill by Angus Weavers, Legacy & Ulster Linen.

Linen and Linen Blends

  • Access Commodities
    • Legacy Linen (20, 25, 30, 34 count)
    • Legacy Dower Linen (30 count and non-counted linen approximately 50 count)
    • Legacy Linen 53 count (Sycamore Seed Pod - 118in wide)
  • Brussels (30 count was used by C.A. Wells for dimensional projects. We have a few cuts of a  hand-dyed version dyed for us by Lakeside Linens.). We no longer have any White or Optical White and are unable to obtain more. Studio Linen (aka Northern Cross) is a good substitute).
  • Lakeside Linens (hand-dyed linen in 28, 32, 36, 40, 46, 55 & 52/60 count)
  • Studio Line (was called Northern Cross)
  • Strathaven
  • Graziano
    • Florence (45 count)
    • Ricamo (38 count)
    • Assisi (30 count)
    • 53/63 count  - for these fabrics the direction of the count is as follows:
      • 53 count along the grain/selvage aka Warp
      • 63 count is from selvage to selvage aka Weft
    • Linen Aida (14 & 18 count white)
  • Sotema (Legacy Linen)
    • 30 count
    • 37 count
    • 48 count
  • Tabby Cat (Sotema base)
    • 30 count
    • 37 count
    • 47/48 count
  • Weeks Dye Works (hand-dyed linen)
  • Wichelt (Permin)
    • 18, 28, 30, 32, 35 & 40 count
  • Zweigart We carry a wide range of Zweigart linens
    • Cork (18 count)
    • Dublin (25 count)
    • Cashel (28 count)
    • Belfast (32 count),
    • Edinborough (36 count)
    • Newcastle (40 count)
    • Bergen Linen (44/46 count)
    • Bristol (45 count)
    • Kingston (55 count)
    • Quaker (28 count, 55% Linen/45% Cotton)

      Aida & Aidaweave fabrics

  • Aida - 8, 11, 14, 16, 18, & 20 counts in numerous colors by Zweigart & Wichelt
  • Hardanger - 22 count by Zweigart & Wichelt
  • Herta (6 count) & Hertaette (8 count) by Zweigart
  • Jobelan Aida (hand-dyed 14 count) by Wichelt
  • Linen Aida by Graziano & Zweigart
  • Klostern (7 count) by Zweigart
  • Tula (10 count) by Zweigart

Evenweave fabrics (other than linen)

  • Davosa (18 count) by Zweigart
  • Floba (25, 32 & 35 count) by Zwegiart
  • Jobelan (25, 28 & 32 count - 51% Cotton/49% Rayon) by Wichelt
  • Linda (27 count) by Zweigart
  • Lugana (20, 25, 28 & 32 count - 52% Cotton/48% Rayon) by Zweigart
  • Verdal (40 count) by Zweigart

Embroidery fabrics

  • Linen Twill - by Ulster Linen
  • Legacy Linen Twilll - by Access Commodities
  • Jacobean Twill by Angus Weaves (Scotland)
  • Kingston - 50/55, 53/59 or 55/55 count by Zweigart
  • Linen Crepe - by Sotema
  • Legacy - Tailor's Chalk, Fichu (sub for Cambric), Picadill
  • Graziano 53/63 linen (their #6262 used by Elisabetta Sforzza)
  • Southern Belle  or Painter's Palette Cotton - cotton backing for embroidery
  • Lakeside Linens - 55 count

Wool, Canvas, Silk Gauze & Other fabrics

  • Blank CanvasWeeks Dye Works Hand-dyed Wool
  • Wool Flannel
  • Congress cloth (24 count)
  • Interlock Canvas (Special Order)
  • Penelope Canvas (Special Order)
  • Mono canvas
    • 10, 12, 13, 14, 16 & 18 count
  • Silk Gauze
  • Waste Canvas
Construction Fabrics
  • Interfacing
    • Skirtex (medium weight interfacing)

Pre-finished items

  • Hand towels, Linen handkerchiefs and a few other goodies that we bring in a few times a year. Many other items available by special order.
  • We have a limited selection of Legacy Linen - Linen Glass Towels in Blue and Red.

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Last updated February 28, 2024
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