Republican Tunica Blues

[Lepidina]

Some have told me that linen, real linen, doesn't take dyes very well, and the ancients generally didn't bother to dye linen so much for that reason. Once synthetic, oil based, and analine dyes came around, though linen was dyeable.

Hurm. Interesting proposition. Analine dyes don't come about until like the 1860s but I've seen dyed linen before then. Makes me wonder how common it was since linen is a staple of reenactor clothing.

Have you noticed how many fabrics in the US stores call themselves linen, but are anything from rayon to polyester to cotton to who knows what? They look a little like linen fiber, but...never saw a flax plant.

That's something you have to watch out for in fabric stores. The other catch is that here in the US, 100% wool can mean up to like 20% non-wool. No, I don't understand it either. Linen is also a weave so many company make "linen" fabric that isn't from flax or combine it with another fiber. You can always burn test a swatch if you are concerned about the fabric content or get some mystery fabric that you aren't sure what it is.