“The linen wasn’t evenweave, because some of the threads were thick and some were very thin. And there were those slubby bits.”
No.
Evenweave does not refer to the thickness of the threads with which the fabric is woven. It has nothing to do with whether some threads are thick, and some threads are thin.
Evenweave refers to the number of threads within a certain measurement. If, over a particular measurement, there are the same number of threads over both the warp and the weft (down and across) the fabric, then it is evenweave.
For example, within a measurement of 1 inch, there might be 25 threads across the weft. If there are 25 threads within an inch measurement on the warp also, then it is evenweave. If there are 25 one way, and 28 the other, it is not evenweave.
Within the measurement, some of those threads might be a little scrawny, and some might be a little plump. This is immaterial (sorry for the pun!), because it is the *quantity* of threads that is important.
White Threads is the blog of Yvette Stanton, the author, designer, publisher behind Vetty Creations' quality needlework books and embroidery products.
A point worth making, Yvette – people do get confused by ‘uneven evenweave’!
Three other things that beginners might not know: firstly, don’t do like the picture here and use the very end of a tape measure for measuring – use a ruler or start from the first inch mark, where you can see exactly where the start of the measuring point is. The first inch of tapes are often slightly inaccurate. Because of slubs and slight variations, it’s worth measuring over two inches, not one,and dividing the count in half, to get a more accurate figure. Thirdly, if you run a line of thread over and under four threads, in both directions, it makes counting very easy.
I rather liked your pun!
You might be the only one, Rachel! 😉
These are good points, Sue. Thanks!
I like puns! But is there an accepted term for even evenweaves – those beautiful linens without a lot of variation in thread thickness and that won’t land a great huge fat slub right where it’s going to distort the pattern?
Hi Elaine, no there isn’t a specific term for that sort of linen. It’s just linen, and where it applies, it is also evenweave linen. I don’t look on those slubs as being a problem. They’re part of linen; part of it’s beauty. (And just quietly, if they’re in a place that is bothersome, sometimes you can pull some of the slub out and thin it down.)