For many, Linen is a staple fabric in their summer wardrobe. It’s a highly breathable and absorbent fibre with a cool touch, making it ideal for keeping cool in warm weather. Linen is easily recognisable for its slub weave and textured look which has become a highly sought after and desirable look across the fashion market. Linen is a fairly sustainable fabric, derived from the flax plant and is known to be one of the world’s oldest fabrics, with its origin dating back 10,000 years in Egypt.
So, if there are all of these wonderful benefits to Linen, why blend it with other fibres such as tencel? 100% Linen fabrics are well known for two potentially problematic factors; its creasing and lack of drape. For some people, these qualities only add to the character of the fabric and make it even more desirable, but if you’re like me, these qualities can make me wary of wearing it. Yes there are tips for reducing the creasing such as pulling it out of the dryer while it’s still hot or pressing with a steam cloth or even using starch spray, but in all honesty, that’s just a little bit too high maintenance for my wardrobe and I know it will put me off wearing the garment in the long run.
Across the market, you will likely have come across Linen/ Viscose blend fabrics and even Linen/ Cotton blends, but for me, Tencel is my absolute favourite fibre to blend with Linen when I’m looking for everyday wardrobe pieces that I can wear, whatever the weather. When blending a fibre and choosing a blend to suit your needs, it’s important to know what qualities you are looking for. Linen Cotton blends usually lean more towards the usual handle you would find in a Linen, or maybe you are looking for a bit of stretch where you might be more drawn towards an elastane blend such as our Stretchy Tencel.
What the inclusion of Tencel in Linen brings to the table, is a higher level of drape, a softer handle and although Tencel does not stop Linen from creasing at all, the weight helps the creases to drop out as you’re wearing it. For me, this makes it much more comfortable and suitable to wear for softer garments such as relaxed fit trousers, blouses, dresses and jumpsuits. This combination presses beautifully too which allows it to make the most beautiful, luxurious suits and tailored pieces also. Our Sanded Tencel Linen blend (1002) retains all those Linen qualities that you love such as the slub weave, textured look, cool handle and breathable nature, meaning you don’t need to sacrifice any aspect of linen that you love in order to obtain the extra benefits that Tencel brings. An added benefit of blending with Tencel is that you can usually achieve a high colour vibrancy that lasts wash, after wash, after wash.
Lenzing Tencel is a cellulose based fibre that comes from traceable sources and is manufactured through closed loop production, so you have the assurance that our Tencel/ Linen blend fabric comes from the best sources possible in terms of sustainability, you can find out more about our certifications here.
So now you know a little bit more about Tencel Linen blends, would you be tempted to give them a try?
