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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The Mythological Beast

Saturday evening I was talking with a friend and we were discussing fabrics - of course!  But mainly we were discussing trying to locate the urban legend ~ linen jersey.  Now we knew it had to exist since Eileen Fisher routinely uses it in her garments...but finding it available for retail sewists to use...the sightings were few and far between.

There was a sighting on a website of a fabric store based out of California ~ the price was $26 a yard.  At that price, you need to take a breathe and truly evaluate if you need that fabric in your life before loading up the cart and pressing the submit button.

But peoples I'm here to tell you that the mythological beast lives!  Yes...yes it does.  I've seen it.  I've held it in my hand and I now own 8 yards of it.  Where?  Right...I know you're wondering where I found it at?  But first let me tell you what Linen Jersey is so you know what fiber you are hunting...

"A jersey fabric has a fair amount of stretch and curls to the right side when stretched on the crossgrain.  Single knits do not have quite the recovery power of a double knit.  Right side of the fabric show a knit stitch and the wrong side shows a purl stitch."
from  More Fabric Savvy by Sandra Betzina

A linen jersey uses linen fibers to weave the fabric.  Here are two garments made using linen jersey fabric from Eileen Fisher's spring 2011 line:




So where did I find this mythological beast?  Why Fabric Mart of course!  Yeap, my most favoritest fabric store in the entire internet universe has some of this amazing fabric in it's store.  But here's the catch, I don't know if it will be loaded onto the website.  So if you really want to own some of this urban legend fabric, please give a call directly to Fabric Mart and see if  1) they still have some and 2) what price they are selling it for and 3) what colors are available.  I honestly can't tell you what they are selling for or even if the colors I saw are still available, but call and ask to speak to Jennifer or Sue at 800-242-3695 (8am - 5pm EST) and see if there's any left

Edited to add:  That Fabric Mart has indeed listed the linen jersey on their site.  It is in the New Arrivals section and is selling for $11.99 per yard!  Peoples that is a steal!  Because the other website was selling it for $26 a yard.  Run...yes, I did say run right over and purchase some because this is the kewlest lightweight summer knit evah!

Don't believe I have some of the mythological beast in my possession - here's proof:


Yes, that's 4 yards of an orangy red and 4 yards of black laying on MY sofa...in MY possession.  I can testify that the mythological beast lives and can come reside with you for the cost of a phone call! (Well okay price per yard plus shipping, too)  If you've always wanted to own some of this fabric...get to calling peoples...get to calling!

...as always, more later!

13 comments:

  1. Interesting - I'd never think to just pick up the phone and call them up to see if they had something. great idea.

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  2. You are kidding, Oh No You Are Not! How awesome is that?? What will you sew from it?

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  3. So this is a linen knit??!!

    Wow just the thought causes me to stumble as I succumb to fiber lust!

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  4. Too funny. When I started to read this blog entry, I thought to myself, "Why, Fabric Mart may have it." And yes, of course they do. I bought some several years ago. I'll be curious to see what you think of it.

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  5. I sure like the pieces Eileen Fisher has made from it - it has such lovely drape!! I wonder how it will wash...

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  6. There was a sighting of this mythological beast at G Street fabrics. This was a few years ago when I was on my way to VA. It felt amazing! Glad you were able to snag some!

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  7. Great fabric. When you use it you must report back to us how well it sews or any special things we might need to know. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

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  8. Thanksk for the tip on the linen jersey. I have never seen it before, so you've piqued my interest. As for blog posts, I"ll bet some people don't comment if they are reading on something like Google Reader. You have to click through to the web page, enter your ID, then leave your comment. Not that big of a deal (I just did it) but I guess if people are in a hurry... Anyway, it was good to catch up on your blog today. I've been off the internet for a while, but yours is always one of my favorites. Maybe I'll actually write on my own at some point soon LOL!

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  9. FYI, the linen jersey just showed up on the Fabric Mart website. Perhaps they got sick of fielding calls after you started advertising it for them!

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  10. Thanks for this information. Two yrs ago, I actually paid regular price for Eileen Fisher's summer pink sweater set. I absolutely love the fabric and I was on a mission for several months looking for what I deemed linen knit. Finally I stopped looking. I just ordered three yards of the mavue to make Marcy Tilton's little set. I'll let you know how it turns out. I wish they had other colors.

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  11. Thanks so much for posting this - six yards (3 of Cayenne and 3 of Cranberry) are on their way to me. I will look forward to seeing what you do with yours and I like the other comment that suggested the Marcy Tilton little cardigan.

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  12. Now that you have mentioned linen knit, I am seeing it in clothing descriptions everywhere!!

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