Last week I downsized (gave away) my entire collection of vintage embroideries, doilies, hand towels, placemats, table cloths etc. - except for one piece, a Willow pattern doiley where every stitch is over one thread of a fine linen, not ultra-fine handkerchief linen. Craft friends praise my small stitches, but they are uneven & rarely over 1 thread, so I need this beautiful piece to see, but not aspire to, small even stitches! My eyes are not up to such fine work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Embroidery Linen comes in various thread “counts” which are simply an indication of the number of threads per inch in either direction. A low count Embroidery Linen would be a 20 count linen. High count is a little more difficult to define with exact numbers however in general, a 36 or a 40-count Embroidery Linen for counted handwork is considered fairly high count. A 50-count linen would be suitable for very fine work as the counted stitches are worked over one thread of fabric.
My eyes, computer glasses & desk lamp bought from a needlework supplier might not be able to count the threads! Another site says handkerchief linen is 60 count! ~~~~~~~~~~~~
normal service will now resume ... My friend sells vintage linens & other lovely items at vintage/antique fairs. My collection was housed in a fabric covered photocopy paper box that had held 10 packets of paper, pieces were in oven bags, box was about 3/4 full. The collection included vintage doiley holders - usually cardboard either painted or embroidered. Now I just need to find a home for the box, I'll take a photo & show it to my favourite Op Shop, it's pink so some little girl might like to keep her treasures in it!
I also need to find homes for lots more lovely and/or interesting stuff.