tips for sewing with linen?

I am a relatively new sewer (~5 months) and have mostly been doing kids clothes with quilting weight cottons. Last night I attempted to make some journal covers from a tutorial at http://bloomandblossom.blogspot.com. It used linen. So I used linen. And wow--my carefully measured and rotary cut rectangles came out all uneven, the fabric stretched as i sewed, got all distorted afterwards...it was a nightmare (or at least a bad dream). Was I doing something wrong? I pre-washed and pressed...the linen just seemed a lot softer and more shifty than cottons.

Many thanks!

Bonnie

Well, for starters I'd use some relatively stiff fuseable interfacing, even more so if it's going to be a journal cover. I'd cut out the pieces of interfacing first (including seam allowance) and iron it on the linen, so it can not shift while cutting. That way you should get even pieces. The interfacing also helps with sewing.
Another thing I remember about sewing linen is that you should not press the seams on the right side without a protective cloth between the linen and the iron. Otherwise the linen gets an odd shine (I'm sorry, can't explain it better, English is only my second language).
I'm sure there other ways to help with this problem, but that's how i would do it. I hope this helps you, good luck with your project!

I think tinkelstein has you covered with the correct tips. I agree on every one!

@bonniep: so, did you give it another try?

Any tips for cutting linen for garments?  How can I keep it from getting wonky without the interfacing?

One thing I've tried with fabrics that shift alot is to iron freezer paper onto the wrong side of the fabric before I cut it.  It seems to help the grain stay put while you're cutting.  I've done this with charmeuse, so I imagine it would work well for linen too.  The other thing you could do is tack it down with pins to a cardboard or ironable (is that a word?) surface before you lay out the pattern pieces.

Sorry for not replying sooner, I didn't realize there were more responses! I did finish the covers that night (a photo is on my blog at http://bplo.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!CF2831C0AE64E81B!2289.entry but I haven't tried again (the room where I sew is under renovations).

One thing I realized is that I have been cutting on the floor--on a cutting mat, but still on top of carpeting, so that might have been partly responsible for skewing the cuts. The interfacing idea wouldn't work so well in this situation, since the linen is being patched onto something else and interfaced after that. But the freezer paper could work. I love the look of these so I will give it another go once the dust clears and I get the machine back out! I bought a lot of linen and have several other projects in mind as well...

Thanks for the tips,

Bonnie

Cutting linen has been a problem for me as well.  I now pull a thread right where I want to cut and this gives a perfect line for cutting on the "grid".  It definitely takes longer to do this, but you are sure to get a perfect cut.

I bought my first roll of freezer paper for my linen skirt project.  The freezer paper worked great for cutting & now I have a copy of the pattern to keep on hand rather than cutting the original.  Thanks for the tip.  The skirt itself is driving me nuts but I vow to figure it out.

Gosh, I love to work with linen!  I've found however, that the linen BLEND is impossible -- too slippery, just as you've described.  I've been buying the 100% linen at Joann's (with a coupon or on sale) and it's much, much better.  Yes, it wrinkles easily, but it's got wonderful heft and feel to it.  Are you using 100% or a blend?