I host many people here in Normandy who come to shop antiques and brocante with me. Some are first-time buyers, others are more experienced, and nearly all arrive with a wish list, and linens often near the top!
One of the questions I’m asked most often is what to look for when buying antique French linens. At the fairs and among the dealers, it’s common to see piles of sheets or baskets of pillowcases and antique textiles. But unless you’re used to handling old fabrics, it can be hard to gauge their quality.
You need to know that up until the 18th and 19th centuries, many homes had their own loom for weaving household linens. That’s why there’s so much diversity in texture and finish. From the quality of the flax and the thickness of the thread, to whether the fabric is pure linen or a linen-cotton blend. Every detail makes a difference.
If you were here beside me, I’d take you to one of the armoires filled with linens and show you the variety: embroidery, monograms, and ladder-work edgings. Most of all, I’d ask you to hold the sheets and feel their weight.
Linen is much heavier than cotton, and that weight gives it a beautiful, supple drape. It’s what makes linen so wonderful to sleep in! Cool in the summer, warm in the winter. I always use linen sheets in our guest cottage, and nearly every guest comments on them or asks where they can find their own to take home.
So, what should you look for when shopping for antique linens?
- Always unfold a sheet before buying, it’s a shame to get it home and find a tear or a stain in the centre
- Look for a heavyweight, smooth, supple, almost silk-like texture
- Don’t worry if there is a centre seam running the length of the sheet. This isn’t a repair, but simply a sign that it was old enough to be made before the wider looms were prevalent
- Remember that if the sheet is quite beige in colour, it will certainly get whiter each time you wash it
- There are products to remove small rust stains, but a yellow line that has formed on the fold of a sheet that has been stored for too long is, in my experience, practically impossible to get rid of. Personally, unless the sheet looks good dyed, I never buy any with a fold mark.
This weekend, I’ll be sharing my favorite tips for caring for antique linens. Until then, thank you for reading—you’re the best.
41 comments
I learned so much today…..great tips!
~Des
Vielen herzlichen Dank ! Thank You very much ! and Merci beaucoup 🙂
One of my hobbies has been to collect antique linens from Europe for many years and therefore really enjoyed your post !
Have a wonderful evening,
Brigitte in Maine/USA
Oh those Monogrammed linens… so beautiful. I have a few and have cherished them. But how lucky to have an armoire full. Thank you for posting all your beautiful images. Janice x
Oh I love any old linen with a monogram on it .
I have never found any sheets with monogrammed initials on them, however haven’t looked for some time. I would even like new sheets similar to these if available
They are just so beautiful
thanks for sharing
Janice
Those are just BEAUTIFUL.
These are so exquisite Sharon. Old linens like these are such timeless treasures to be cherished. I have mine & my children’s baptismal dresses as well as all the first Communion dresses. They were all of linen with the delicate embroidery and tatted edges similar to what I see here. I still have those tiny garments.
I’ve known craftsman who take the better parts of old linens & made other beautiful items out of them.
A very helpful post, Sharon. I’ve also heard that some of these antique/vintage sheets fall apart with use because they are so old. Is that true, as a rule?
Hi Sharon, I love love love French linens and your posts…xo
Hi Sharon loved this story and the details. Have to admit they are on my wish list too carla x
Of all the blogs I stumble across or am subscribed to, yours I love most! Always a treasure and highlight of my day. Thank you for this little bit of information, so helpful! I look forward to all your blog emails. Now if I could just go shopping with you….someday…sigh.
Love all this info, I have quite a collection and love finding new ones, looking forward to the next blog x
Very helpful! Now if only you were here to help me with all of the old linens that belonged to my grandmother and great aunt. Some are in good shape and some are not and I don’t know what to do with those that aren’t. Do I save the trim and discard the sheet? What a dilemma!
Thank you for the information / education on antique linens, incredibly helpful.
Sharon……could you also tell us a little about the RED embroidery that doesn’t seem to fade or run on these old linen towels? I always enjoy “talking” to you via your blog.
Linen is a so wonderful matter even if it’s not that easy to maintain and keep going. While heatwave linen is very pleasant to wear !
Hi Sharon, that was such an interesting post. Thank you! Diana
Sharon- I have a beautiful, huge linen sheet that does indeed feel like silk. The monogrammed turnback reaches halfway down the bed. It has two tiny tears which I’d like to repair myself. I paid quite a bit for the sheet and having it professionally repaired is not in the budget. I wonder if you can tell me what type of thread to use. Thanks for your lovely site.- Karen Britton, Fairhope, Alabama
Where would you suggest in the United States to look for good French linens? I am a new reader to your blog and I just love it. Thank you for sharing with us!
Living in France and visiting Brocantes purely for fun with the family we see lots of antique linen, this has been a really helpful insight and when we visit the next one we will be better informed and much the wiser. Thank you so much, this was so helpful.
My grandmother would wash old and yellowing linens with tea (tea bags will do), which softens and negates the yellow and gives the linens a lovely gentle, aged look.
Sharon the tips you have given us and the French linens you’ve shown make me want to go shopping with you right away! Gorgeous!
xoxo
Karena
The Arts by Karena
PS I am so happy that we have received such a great response too my feature on your new book!
xoxo
Karena
The Arts by Karena
Great post, thanks for all the tips, I can’t wait to add to my collection of linen x
When I was a child, my grandmother used to give my sister and I hand-made fabric items and embroidered linens for Christmas and birthdays. At the time, we both thought they were the most boring gifts. What’s a nine-year-old going to do with potholders and tablecloths? I still have most of those pieces, only now I cherish them. Perhaps when I’m older I’ll make things like that for my granddaughter. She will probably think they’re boring too, but may one day cherish.
Hi Sharon,
about a year ago I bought some beautiful linen hand towels from you. I love t hem to death, but the person I share my living space, does not respect them the same way I do. Any ideas on how to enjoy, them in other ways. Being very selfish, I don’t want them
to be used and get ruined.
Thank You
Dearest Sharon, thank you so much for the linen lesson. I will be traveling to France in October and hope to find time to do some shopping. Linens were not at the top of my list until reading your post, now I am most intrigued. Thank you also for your story you posted in July and August , I miss my Monday reading time…
Love gorgeous linens- you have quite the collection!!
Thank you for the hints, I’ll be counting the hours until your next post!
Thank you for the helpful information .
Have a great day
Hi Sharon,love all the beautiful vintage sheets you have in you armoires ,makes me wish they were in mine .I live in Australia so not so easy to procure .
Loverly to dream anyway.
Hi Sharon ,just love receiving your emails ,the vintage sheets are so beautiful that you have ,I wish they were in my cupboard ,as I live in Australia I find it hard to procure such items.Best wishes Elvie
Thank you, your blog is one of my favourites. Suz
Hi Sharon
I bought my first French linen sheet this year to go on our new bed. It’s beautiful. I bought it from someone on Ebay who lives in France and has a business selling all things French. I didn’t know the things you’ve imparted about what to look out for but I was lucky and the sheet is almost perfect, beautifully embroidered and has a wonderful weight. It’s gorgeous to sleep under, a lovely secure feeling and as you say, cool in summer – winter yet to be tested! I would like a second one, but would love the joy of choosing one from a brocante in France. It’ll have to wait for our holiday then…! Thanks for the tips. oh, and finally your book is about to be dispatched to me!!! I feel like the last one to be reading it! Looking forward to an Autumn read!
Sharon your post was good to read, great tips for the novice. Thank you so much for imparting your knowledge with us. Hoping to get back to France to visit family soon.
merci beaucoup.
carmen
Hi Sharon, the bed linen. I remember in my time at school we had sewing classes my favourite was embroidery I was at an advantage because my mum was brilliant at needle work. She kept her table cloth for 12 + napkins it’s about 70 years old and the embroidery cotton she used were French made, they have kept their colour to perfection. I remember she used to make bed linen with embroidery as wedding gifts. She knew the French names to all the different stitches, do they still teach this kind of beauty? Thank you for sharing. Till next time, have a wonderful weekend. Regards Esther from Sydney
Oh Sharon a post after my own heart. Growing up in a French home, family linens were stacked a mile high. As for my collection it has no comparison to many, yet I am taking more interest in what I do have and adding when I find them. It’s such a hard find in Southern California and when you do the price tag is attached pricey.
I take the old abused ones cut them up and create new pieces from them, stockings for the holidays and napkins and sorts…. I also launder my LINENS to WHITEN and keep them bright. A family trick being part French and part Irish here is what The Irish would do and passed it to my French family, we would and I do launder them and a double rinse, nothing wears on linen more then laundry soap not rinsed out well enough.
The BRIGHT WHITE come from taking the linen early morning and after a washing wet and all lay then out on the MORNING dew GRASS, very big in Ireland the acid from the grass does not ever stain yet will dry your LINENS in its brightest of whites, and the fresh smell is like non other, a light pressing then follows but never when stored only when placed On a bed, or in use of dinning or runners and tea towels…. Big mistake buyers also do is press them and stack and store them, this is how the unsightly permanat seams take shape and add those worn areas.
I have something I do when collecting pillow cases….if worn to a degree of lacking beauty and grace, I fold them in half length wise and hang them as drying sheets for hands that often get washed in between prepair ing a meal in the kitchen! I have started a new trend In Collecting pillow cases with my Girl Friends… Pillow cases that become a hand towel, have one hanging from the oven bar right now!
Wonderful post, and always places me I. France when I visit you and all you inspire.
Xx
Bisous
Doré
Thank you so much for information about purchasing these lovely linens. I especially liked the information about the loom width!
Hi Sharon,
Help, I am looking for a table cloth for a 60 inch diameter table, with a 10-12 inch overhang, plus good sized napkins, Monogramed with a D, in lovely Vintage Linen, have tried in London with no luck.
I have recently acquired bin liners of french sheets stored in a Armoire they differ from thin & heavily embroided to heavy with seams and quiet damp and yellow
I’ve rescued as much of them as possible but no idea what age or fabric they are the embroidered ones are soft to the skin and some have coloured threads too them one is heavy with full width floral design across
If you could advise on them I’d be very appreciative
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[…] I explained in my last post about buying French antique linens, fold lines are the hardest stains to remove. These happen when sheets have been stored too long […]