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I am taking the dive into evenweave fabric (perfectly acceptable reason to increase stash) and picked up some 28-count monaco and 32-count Belgian linen. The monaco is very stiff and difficult to stitch on. I can barely see the holes. Surprisingly to me, the linen is much easier to work with, even with the fabric being so fluid and a higher count. It has left me wondering if maybe I should try another monaco manufacturer before washing my hands of it? Can I expect much of a difference? Right now I have Charles Craft tea dyed.

Oh the fun of using evenweave and linen. There are so many choices and each has their own quirks. I prefer lugana and jobelan and I usually end up having to resort to buying them from ebay or 123 stitch

I've got Monaco fabric too and the weave does look a bit close. It's Charles craft but I didn't think it was too stiff....but then I like a firmer fabric and I try to use pure cotton or linen. I used to use Jubilee cotton and the Monaco is a bit stiffer.

Perhaps it'll soften with handling like Aida does. You could always wash it after hemming and before use.

I have white, cream, tea and blue. It was on offer so I bought 4 big bits, one of each colour.

I'll try giving it a wash. Thanks for the advice.

Let us know how you get on, please.

I'll cut a bit off and try it too!