A LIGHTER TOUCH
The soft textures of linen and hemp fabrics bring a natural lightness to windows and furnishings.
Flax is a native of the New Zealand landscape, but unfortunately for the local textile industry, it’s not a true flax that can be woven into a fine fabric, like its European namesake. Most of the linens sourced by Dean Watt, owner of linen and hemp furnishing fabric company Hemptech, come from Belgium.
“One of our fabrics goes through about five or six different processes to achieve its finish,” he says. “It’s woven, washed, and processed again to give it that lustre.” The manufacturing set-ups to achieve such a finish aren’t available in this part of the world, he says, and nor are those required to produce fabrics at the wide widths that work best for linen curtains. “When you’re using a heavier fabric for curtains, it’s easy to sew the seams so that you can’t see them. But with plainer, lighter fabric like linen, the seams stand out. Many of our linens now come in a 3m width, which makes them more elegant and flowing.”
Linen is renowned as one of the most environmentally friendly fabrics, with substantially less water required to grow it compared with cotton, and a longer natural fibre, which gives it increased strength and durability, as well as being hypo-allergenic. Dean says it’s becoming a more popular choice as consumers become more aware of its environmental credentials as well as its natural beauty. “Some of our customers only want 100 per cent natural, undyed, unbleached linen.”
The main drawback compared with other fabrics is linen’s lighter weight, which gives lower insulation value, although that light, ethereal look is what buyers usually want. Dean says that double layering curtains, particularly with a thicker secondary layer like hemp curtaining (which is not as refined as linen) is possible.
“Man-made stuff is very hard to compete with [in terms of insulation] but the hemp does help with that. It’s still a natural product, so we don’t sell it as thermal-rated like a plastic product would be, but it does add a layer of warmth.”