A few weeks ago, I ordered some diamond-twill samples from Handelsgillet in Sweden. They arrived this morning.Handelsgillet represents that their wools are all 100% wool, and, judging from the feel of these samples, I believe them. They are light, and soft, but not too thin, and of a "medium" thread count. The image of them that appears with this post is a direct scan of the samples, not a photograph. The price is 295 SEK per meter (about $41 USD), which, though steep, is not impossible for the 2 or so meters I'd need for an apron dress. The colors are muted, as you can see, but the blue is a nice shade.
If only they weren't two-toned, I would definitely start saving up for a couple of meters of the blue. As it is, I will probably think some more about what diamond twill to order, and from whom.
I agree - it seems to be very difficult to find diamond twill that is not two-toned. I did find a handweaver who produces it for £100 per square meter - so right out of my budget anyway - but even she does not seem to be able to get hold of the right kind of thread so the final effect isn't quite right. Apparently only handspun thread is as hard as the original and therefore displays the diamond texture fully. Presumably this is why people are using two tones, because the texture isn't clear enough, but it means the final effect just doesn't look the same as the originals. I'm not going to pay that much money for something that doesn't pass the 3-foot test!
ReplyDeleteI'd be very interested if you find anything you consider suitable...
Shelagh
Courtesy of a reader of this blog, I found some very nice single-toned diamond twill (in some very nice colors!) on a Russian site, here. (See especially T33, T34, and T45--some of the others are two-toned.) The price is supposedly only $28 USD a meter and the website photos are wonderful but due to work and issues surrounding my personal finances, I haven't gotten around to exploring the postage costs and logistics of getting the purchase of such fabric to the United States.
ReplyDeleteThere's also a Danish site that sells both a natural wool and a red-dyed wool one-tone diamond twill, but that's back on the expensive side; it can be found here,
Check out Wood-n-Woven http://www.wood-n-woven.com/index.html I see you are from Pennsylvania. Elspeth will be at Pennsic this year. All fabrics are $30/yd.
ReplyDeleteElspeth may be at Pennsic, but I will not be.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I could certainly still buy from her over the Internet! The photos on her website look interesting--particularly the "broken herringbone twill" which looks like a broken lozenge twill to me. (Her "diamond twill" is, like the Handelsgillet product, two-tone.)
Thanks very much for the URL!
If you're interested in other places, where one can buy nice diamond twills, here's few links:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fuscher.com.pl/asukna.html
http://www.rucnitkani.cz/index.php?type=offer&page=3
http://www.sagnlandet.dk/HANDDYED-IRON-AGE-FABRIC-ON-SALE.888.0.html
http://www.wollstoff.de/index.php/cat/c55_Wollstoff.html
https://www.naturtuche.de/index.php?cat=c36_Wool.html
Wow, Vlasta, that's a great list!
ReplyDeleteI'm already aware of Wollstoff and Naturtuche (and discussed fabric samples from both in a different post) but the rest are new to me. Thank you!