Sunday, August 15, 2010

Linen / Poplyester Blend a Great Fabric?

No !!!.Absolutely not.

I used to fantasize aboout finding a linen / poly blend thinking it would have the best qualities of both fabrics, ie. breathable and non wrinkly.I was so excited when I found just such a fabric (the content is 45% linen /55% polyester.) at Fabricville this summer. Well, I was doomed to disappointment!

I washed the stuff three times and dried it as many times in a hot dryer which is what I do for most of my linens to cut down on wrinkles. Sometimes it works as in this dress which doesn't wrinkle at all and is pure linen and sometimes it doesn;t as in this coat which is a linen / rayon blend.

The fabric is really very nice.I bought the fabric in a dark wash denim look



a medium blue ,



and in grey.Here are the cropped pants I made.They are really attractive,but they wrinkle just like linen.




I used a couple of different patterns for these and I added the pocket I drafted for Tamara's houndstooth coat last winter. I love that pocket and use it every chance I get.




At the hem I sewed several rows of topstitching to add a little interest to an otherwise plain pant.



I've really only worn these once and Ryley wet all over them.She completely bypassed her diaper and totally soaked me!!!

As for the rest of my "dream fabric",I'll use it because I like it just as I like linen,but....

So has anyone else out there come across such a fabric and do you have a story to tell?

Happy Sewing from Diana!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ummmm ... yes. It's not a favourite fabric of mine. I don't find that it irons well or even looks good. The polyester content is just a little too high I think.
But I do love your cropped pants!

Gail said...

The wrinkes are the joy of linen - It should look a little wrinkled! But if you really can't live with the rumpled, shabby chic look, add starch or borax to your wash. Nice pants BTW.

Vicki said...

No stories to tell, but your pants look great. Like the pockets and hem details.

Digs said...

Oh yes. Last year I made a very nice skirt in a yummy-soft wool-rayon blend, a fairly loose plain weave - and then was deeply disappointed to see how easily it wrinkled in wear. But, to be fair, it's entirely possible that my tolerance for wrinkles is lower than others', since I recently discovered that another skirt I made, this time in cotton pique lycra, ALSO stretches more than I care for.

gwensews said...

Nice pants. At least they wash well--good thing! I usually like blended fabrics. Sorry this one didn't turn out to your liking. Love the topstitched hem. Good idea. I will borrow that, thank you!

Ann Made Studio said...

Your pants do look very nice, but unfortunate the fabric wasn't what you expected.