Fabric Choices & Thread Counts for Luxury Linens

Jay Johnson - We found an excellent custom linens resource and want to share it with you. We recently had an information lunch with the charming co-owner of Casa Del Bianco, Fabrizio Biasiolo, maker of fine custom Italian linens.

We learned that there is no right fabric to buy when you're looking for fine bed linens. As Fabrizio told us, "There is only fabric that is right for you. Your own personal taste and your intended use should dictate your choice." So here are some options, and their pros and cons:

Cotton: Available in percale or sateen. The sheets are smooth, strong, comfortable, and the care is relatively easy.

Linen: The strongest fiber, but the least uniform. Great airflow for coolness, but its irregular surface creates sheets that are less soft and wrinkle more than other fibers.

Silk: Woven from extremely smooth, thin, uniform yarn. It tends to feel more luxurious to the touch, but silk sheets are substantially warmer than either cotton or linen and they require more care.

Enjoy our video introduction to Casa Del Bianco. And I've also posted follow-up videos where Fabrizio goes into more depth about fabric choices and thread counts.

Update on June 11, 2010 by Design2Share

Update on June 14, 2010 by Design2Share

We were surprised when we heard that "higher thread counts equate higher quality bed linens" is essentially bunk from Linen King Fabrizio Biasiola, of Manhattan's custom Italian bed linens center Casa Del Bianco. Essentially, if you've got higher thread counts, it makes a denser, heavier, stronger cloth that will retain too much body heat and you'll sweat the night away and turn your bed linens into tablecloths.

Once the thread count in fabric reaches a certain higher number - indicating the number of threads per square inch, the fabric becomes heavier and less supple. At a count of 800 or above, your bed sheet will become hot and heavy on the body. Fabrizio recommends 400 to 600 for optimal comfort. With bed linens, it's the weight per square meter that counts, and the optimal weight for sheets is 110 grams per square meter. In this video, we learn more about the "thread count equals quality" myth from Casa Del Bianco's charming host.



Inside a Pillow Workroom with Sylvie Guieysse

Readers of Design2Share know that our editors love the pillows made by Brooklyn seamstress Sylvie Guieysse, the French-born designers who channeled her love for theater and stage design into the art of pillow making.

We were recently invited to her Williamsburg neighborhood home and workroom to see her new selections of Japanese fabrics for two new lines of pillows - a green and a blue story. These limited edition pillows are thoughtfully presented with three coordinating pillows and a natural lavender sachet.

Enjoy our video visit to Sylvie's workroom, where she shows us some of her unique fabric selections and bold color combinations.