Slinger

[Matthew Amt]

Right, for linen you want to zig-zag the cut ends, then beat the heck out of it in the washer and dryer. Hot wash, cold rinse. Iron well on the hottest setting, with steam, before you start measuring and cutting. If you zig-zag or whip stitch the cut edges of whatever garment you make (before assembly, usually), you can machine-wash it after sweating in it. But cold wash and rinse will do it, no need to be more abusive!

For wool you need to be a little more gentle. It shouldn't ravel much so no real need to zig-zag the cut ends. Cold wash and rinse on the Gentle cycle, and hang dry. Iron with steam before cutting and sewing. When the finished garment needs washing, just squish it gently in a bucket of cool soapy water, let it soak for a while, rinse it out, and hang dry.

Oh, ignore the "Dry Clean Only" label on any fabric you buy! If you dry-clean anything historical, you won't go to heaven when you die. Just sayin...

A woven hemp belt sounds fine to me!

For sewing equipment, you'll need an iron--I can tell you that working with un-ironed linen is miserable! If you don't have access to a sewing machine, needle, thread, scissors, pins, maybe a little chunk of wax for waxing the thread. Not much else! Oh, a piece of tailor's chalk can be handy (though regular pencil will work), plus measuring implements. If you can get linen thread, excellent, but most folks won't abuse you for using regular sewing thread.

Happy sewing!

Matthew