Crossstitchforum - A FREE forum for Cross Stitchers

So I'm trying to figure out which fabric to use for a HAED that I plan on starting sometime this year. I've looked through 123stitch.com and found a 28ct Ivory Evenweave I'd like for about $40, then there are several 25ct and 28ct Lugana fabrics that I like (mushroom, potato, ivory, etc.), but they're more expensive for the 25ct (what the chart calls for but I don't mind going smaller) and about the same price as the Evenweave for the 28ct Lugana.

Now to bring my question into it. Which do you all prefer working with when it comes to the HAEDs? What's really the difference between Lugana and Evenweave? I've never worked with Lugana before, but close-up it looks like something easy to work with. Evenweave? Well, the one I'm working on now is 28ct Evenweave and I'm quite comfortable with it, but I'm open to trying something new.

Lugana is the name that Zweigart give to their cotton evenweave fabrics, in the States it comes in different counts, over here in the UK Lugana refers to their 25ct fabric and Brittney to their 28ct fabric. They both have the same composition - 52% cotton and 48% rayon. Not all 28ct evenweaves are the same fabric quality - some of them can be pretty rough, I'm not a fan of that MCG Textiles stuff personally! I think that there is a reason that most purveyors of hand dyed fabric always use Zweigart fabrics as their base material - because IMHO it is the best! I'm stitching my HAEDS using 28ct Lugana/Brittney and love it - if you are going to be stitching a project for quite some time you want to use a fabric you can trust!

Oh yeah, it'll be a project for quite some time. It's a 600x662 stitch piece that I plan on doing full cross stitch, 1 over 1. lol

Thank you SO much for helping me out with this. You did some perfect explaining. I will certainly spend the extra and go with Lugana.