Last week when I was sick, I received a rather exciting parcel in the mail. I just wasn’t well enough to get excited about it at the time, though! However, now I am back in the land of the living, I’ve opened it up and enjoyed looking at it (and I’m sure I’ll enjoy stitching with it too, when the chance comes!).
I had ordered a Sotema linen “Trial Pack No.1, 20 L linens, Whites” from Elena Rossi at Italian Needlecrafts. The pack has 4 different shades of white linen, each piece 45 x 50cm. “20L” refers to the linen count, which is 38 threads per inch.
These are linens I want to try in preparation for my next book. I wanted to see colours and how “properly” evenweave it is – whether it really has 38 threads per inch in both directions, as some “evenweaves” don’t, and when its a high count like this, it makes a difference! I haven’t had the chance to count the threads yet, but the linen itself looks lovely. I was so pleased to find that Elena labelled each fabric so that I know which colour is which! I did wonder how I was going to know!
How lovely to receive such special things in the mail. Thanks Elena – great service!
White Threads is the blog of Yvette Stanton, the author, designer, publisher behind Vetty Creations' quality needlework books and embroidery products.
Hi Yvette,
I’m delighted to see your mention of Elena at Italian Needlecrafts. I too have had fantastic service from Elena when buying her beautiful linens online. I emailed her with questions when I was trying to decide which to buy and her replies were immediate, friendly and most helpful.
I ordered a variety of weights, including the same trial pack that you’ve bought, and every piece arrived with a label on it saying what it was.
And the linens are gorgeous, some so fine that they are almost weightless. The quality of both fabric and service is unsurpassed in my experience and I’m very happy to be able to to let others know about her.
Kindest regards, Suzy in Melbourne.
It never hurts to tell others of excellent service and excellent products. 🙂
Sample pack of linens at a decent size……I’m off to the lady’s site!! Thanks
I’m just getting into your Portuguese Whitework book. It’s fantastic…but the 38-count linen is a bear to find. And I’m sorry, but $190 a yard from Australia to the U.S. is a little out of my budget. Anyway, I tried the “Italian Needlecrafts” link above, plus I just manually entered the same phrase into Google, and in both cases I hit an ad site. Turns out the real site closed last December.
In the meantime, I’m going to try the techniques using 36-count linen, of which I have plenty on hand, and will keep searching for the 38-count closer to home.
Hi Barbara, Yes, I heard just recently that Elena had to close, due to lack of business. It was a real shame! I will see what I can do to find out who has some closer to you. And do keep in mind that though the fabric is expensive, it is also VERY wide – 180cm – which is why I also sell it in smaller pieces and half widths. AND a metre is longer than a yard.