Blue and White Check Linen, WLG 181

100% Linen, 6.5 oz, 58″ Wide

This check linen is woven based on our research of check linens made and used in the 18th and early 19th century America and England. This weight is suitable for working class shirts and aprons. Although not copied from any one original, it is extremely similar to several original check linens for example see Figure 15 of the book Threads of Feeling, see samples 6, 14, 35, 40, 43, 47, 56, 58, 89, and 90 of the 1771 Textile sample book of the Manchester manufacturing firm of Benjamin and John Bower. Most checks available today are half white and half blue. The majority of checks found in the billet books at The Foundling Museum in London are mostly white with narrower blue stripes resulting in a check many modern people would think of more as a plaid. This fabric was commonly made into women’s aprons and men’s shirts but may also be used for linings and occasionally for women’s gowns (usually Negros), trousers or even bonnets. In the 1776 Connecticut Courant, “RAN AWAY . . .  a Mustee Fellow . . .  had on when he went off . . .  a check linen shirt blue and white” from personal communication with Mike Barbieri. Off white 60/2 linen thread will work well for hand sewing.