Voyage Navy
TENCEL™ Lyocell/Linen

We have two new colours of our popular Tencel/linen range for the autumn/winter season. Flint Green is a beautiful sage green with a hint of yellow. Flint Green was actually the shade of one of our Double Gauze cottons which has now sold out but we really loved that shade. It looks especially good with navy and is a bit more of a punchy green compared to something like Mori. Josephine is an update of London Town, which was more of a brick red, Josephine is knocked back and more chalky, very similar to Appolina in our 8oz sanded twill range. We hope you love these two new shades as much as us, we spend a lot of time getting our colours just right working with the mills usually on several rounds of tests.

Tencel/linen is a good choice for patterns that require some drape, but is certainly easier to work with than 100% Tencel. It’s 6oz, perhaps the golden weight for dressmaking projects – a good amount of body to keep fullness and shape within a garment. Below are some suggestions on patterns which are ideal for our Tencel/linen range.

From left to right – Florence Dress in Mori, Swing Top (lengthened into a dress)  in Voyage Navy, Box Box in Voyage Navy, Ellsworth shirt in Euphoria.

In our efforts to thoroughly research and verify the provenance of all our cloth, we found ourselves, one sunny morning, wandering the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. Immersed in the saturated colours, the sounds and urgency of the marketplace and the smell of cooking from all around, we almost forgot we were there to work. We found, ropes, handmade wooden utensils, webbing and more but our search for antique cloth was fruitless. We comforted ourselves with chai and the best of Turkish cuisine followed by a trip down the old town to traipse around the antique/junk shops.

As the day drew to end, our driver arrived to take us off to the Tencel mill and factory, showing himself to be the only real threat to Lewis Hamilton’s championship reign as he sped through the countryside. On arrival we found a thoroughly hi-tech, energy efficient factory where we learnt the nature of Tencel:

Tencel is a cellulose fibre, which like rayon is made by dissolving wood pulp. Wood chips (sourced from certified and controlled sources of eucalyptus) are mixed with a solvent to produce a wet mix which is pushed through tiny holes to form fibre threads. The lengths of fibre are spun into yarn which are then woven into cloth. The process of Tencel production ameliorates much of its own environmental effects. Like cotton, Tencel is made from plant materials. However, manufacturing Tencel requires less energy and water than cotton. The solvents used to turn the wood pulp into fibre are contained in a closed loop system, with a quoted recovery rate of 99%. As a naturally derived fibre, Tencel is also biodegradable.

Although it is dyed conventionally (which can be harmful to the environment), Tencel requires a lot less dye than cotton. The manufacturers are actively striving towards greener, cleaner and more efficient production and are currently investing in new, renewable energy sources.

We are fans of Tencel. It has the silkiest drape and handle, comes in all the colours you could ask for and is suitable for use wherever cotton or linen are recommended. In our view, it is up there with the best eco fabrics currently being produced. You can see our range of Tencel and Tencel blend cloths here.