Having woven the samples for the Homegrown Homespun project in 2021 and also some of the samples from entirely hand-spun material for Justine of the Northern England Fibreshed in 2023, I knew the spec I wanted to aim for. But of course, if you move from a 25 x 30 cm sample to a large-scale piece of cloth, un-anticipated issues might arise.

Choosing the Loom

But first things first. I considered using my beloved countermarch loom since it is perfect for linen yarn. The simultaneously raising and sinking sheds are gentler on linen yarn, especially as we had a significant portion of hand-spun yarn in the warp due to prototype issues with the mill equipment. Also weaving with foot pedals is faster than changing shafts by hand every time.  

Lervard loom no 9, Folding 4 shaft floor loom

In the end, I decided to use my Louet Jane loom after all, as an 8-shaft setup allowed me to distribute the warp across more shafts rather than just four. This helped prevent the slightly hairy, albeit sized, linen yarn from being too cramped. Traditional denim is tightly set and woven, while linen is usually set wider to reduce friction, so I aimed for a balanced approach to protect the warp. The slight snag was that the cloth width would be smaller, but after consulting with Nick, our tailor, he  assured me that he could do some magic, so the Jane it was.  

Dressed Louet Jane Loom, full width

Weaving Technique & Challenges

I used a traditional 3/1 twill with a tight sett to replicate the structure of standard cotton denim. Initially, the first 10” of the warp shed a lot (scary moment!) but it settled over time. To strengthen the yarn on the loom, I sized the warp with a linseed goop (recipe below) and used a damp cloth before and after the temple to keep the linen strong and pliable during weaving. Since linen yarn lacks elasticity, I had to carefully manage tension, keeping it slightly looser  than usual to accommodate the yanking stretch when lifting the shafts on a jack loom. I wove damp, which helped too. Damp means damp, not wet. You can dampen the warp by spraying mist up in the air over the warp so it dissipates when it settles, or use a bucket with water under your loom if you have the space.

I bought a new reed so I could thread the warp 2 strands per dent (instead of a 2/3), again to avoid too much friction between the warp strands. I prefer textile heddles over metal ones when weaving linen, as they are gentler on the warp yarn. The cloth was woven in two portions over a 1.5-meter warp, so I could meet our deadlines in September 29th and November 6th. Although that meant more loom waste, again it was safer to weave a shorter length to make sure the mostly handwoven warp would hold up for a full length of cloth. We were working to the wire, both in terms of deadlines, yarn and fabric allowance, …  

• I wove the cloth in pieces for a few main reasons:
• Deadline for an exhibition in September 2024, allowing us to showcase the fabric even if the jeans weren’t finished yet.
• Minimizing strain on the warp, even though this meant more loom waste. To maximize efficiency, I extended the rear bar using a sturdy wooden stick on a string, which allowed me to eke out another 4 inches from the loom waste. Not the greatest looking cloth but after shrinking, it would go into the hems anyway, so kinda acceptable 😊 Each length took me about three days to weave, meaning two lengths in total.
• Additionally, I wove the waistbands on a different loom, both considering how weaving a cloth like this could be shared in the community, and to also to add a patterned design element, inspired by the historical use of patterns in denim (see my blog on Mohsins' historical research on jeans).

Fabric Weight & Finishing

We aimed for a traditional 320–350 GSM (8–9 oz) weight, though the final jeans turned out slightly heavier as my hand-spun portion of the warp yarn was a bit thicker. Before moving to the tailoring phase, the fabric underwent washing and beetling so it would not change shape after sewing and being washed.

 

And here is the best bit of every weaving project: cutting of the warp :)

Finishing: As with every textile product the next step is finishing as in washing and i the case of linen: good agitation, plus Beetling. 

Beetling is an extra step needed for bast fibre fabrics (Hemp, nettle flax). It is a mechanical textile finishing method that flattens and relaxes the yarn. It closes the initially open linen weave, brings the fibres together and also adds gloss to the fabric. In the industry, the cloth is pounded by hammers. At home I used a simple rolling pin.

Top half un-beetled, bottom half beetled

What did I listen to during the long hours of solitary weaving?
The amazing podcasts of Haptic and Hue about flax history and flax and the linen revival, as well as Amber Butchard’s Cloth Cultures podcast covering linen.

 

Plain Sailing: the Cloth That Turned The Tide of History >>
A coarse plain cloth has a greater claim to being the most important textile in history: Sailcloth is the fabric that has made it possible for humanity to explore the world, build great empires, and wage wars for millennia, and yet history pays very little attention to it.

Flax is Back! The Great Linen Revival >>
Flax is a fibre that looks back as well as forward. Like no other yarn, it is the ancient fibre of civilisation. Linen has walked the long centuries alongside mankind. Its cultivation reaches back thousands of years to the beginnings of human settlement and farming.

Elizabeth Wayland Barber and The Age of String >>
Elizabeth Wayland Barber’s book: Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years with its radical ideas, put textiles at the heart of the human story. It played a major role in creating a new generation of expert textile archaeologists and in getting the subject taken seriously.

Cloth Cultures with Amber Butchart >>
Throughout the Cloth Cultures podcasts and associated exhibition, fashion historian Amber Butchart explores movement, migration and making through cloth. This episode is about linen.

On Your Farm | A Future for Flax? >>
Several years ago, farmer Helen Keys and her husband Charlie Mallon embarked on what they thought would be a straightforward venture – growing flax to make linen. By Kathleen Carragher, BBC Sounds.

Next in line: Sewing & Design
As Nick From FirstPrincipals is a linen work wear lover and denim specialist, I was confident and happy to hand over our special cloth for the last step: sewing the jeans.

Here is a little teaser while I am working on that blog article. We adapted a Gender selvedge jeans pattern, incorporating numerous high-end and sustainable features (to be listed separately). More details on the sewing process will be covered in Nick’s guest blog, where he talks about the construction of the jeans.

 PS As promised the sizing recipe.

Linseed goop recipe from VAV the Swedish textile magazine, Edition Nettle and Flax
For a 10m warp boil 50gr linseed in 500ml water 5 -10 mins. Strain when lukewarm, otherwise it gets so gloopy it won't strain. Add warm water to make up to 1.5 litre. Apply either to skein or on the loom. If on the loom only brush in one direction. Let everything dry before you start.