was about to suggest that - although sometimes treated cottons do the same thing.
the other thing is something you start to notice when you handkle linen a lot - and apologies that this will sound a bit vague and away with the fairies, but if you run your hand over the cloth, linen threads have a kind of hardness to them - it's as though you can feel each individual thread - with cotton it feels much smoother - more like a single piece. (sorry - told you it woould be vague). Also there's the rip test. If you have enough fabric, make little snip about 2 inches from the cut edge, then rip down the weft. 9 times out of 10, the cotton will have a flat, soft (if feathery) edge, linen will crinkle and curl at one of the ripped edges. It comes from the fact that cotton is't as strong as linen, but is less britle, so when the threads snap, they do so with less force - linen is very strong, but also quite britle, so when it does snap, the linen will snap more violently, in its own little way. Plus linen will almost certainly be harder to tear than cotton. Although, again some modern treatments can alter the properties, it works most times. debs In a message dated 1/11/06 6:41:45 AM GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > Try scrunching up a fist of fabric and hold for a moment and release. If > there are lots of sharp creases = linen/ lots of soft creases= cotton/ a few > soft creases= blend of natural fiber/polyester/no creases = polyester. If > you > need to, do this with fabric you know the content of to see what the fiber > does. > This works great when fabric shopping because no one has to get upset about > a lighter in the store! > > alex _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
