Well, I guess I have the right approach then. I hate the sizing they put on
linen because I think it makes it look terrible (as soon as you move it
wrinkles, and there's no way to take the wrinkles out after that). When you
wash it the sizing goes out, the fabric is softer, and the wrinkles are much
less apparent and much more natural. You do have to iron it with a water
bottle though, or it doesn't look as good.
And I think it's a good thing those garments shrink :-) Stores where I
normally wear a size 2, for example, when they have linen garments the size
0 is still to big for me. I still haven't figured out why they always cut
the linen things so *** big! :-)
Actually, I wasn't thinking so much as today's blue jeans (they all have
spandex or one of those stretchy materials nowadays, so they never shrink
and you have to remember to buy them too small or they fall off when you
wear them), but the ones I was wearing about 10 years ago, before stretchy
became the way to go. I remember having a pair hemmed after washing once,
and needing to redo the hem because it shrank again after the second
washing.
But that's also true of linen. I now wash my fabric (not the already made
garments) on hot twice before I use it.... won't get caught twice at the
double-shrinking thing!
----- Original Message -----
From: "monica spence" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Historical Costume" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 1:16 PM
Subject: RE: [h-cost] OT: quick fabric washing question
Linen shrinks an enormous amount. Especially if it is not pre-washed. Most
linen used in Mfg. is not prewashed/preshrunk because the finish will come
off and it will look terrible. The linen garment is also usually tailored
differently than denim. The fibers of linen react much dirrerent than
cotton
to water. Lots of denim today is preshrunk and "distressed", so a lot of
the
shrink factor is gone by the time it is cut and sewn.
Monica
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