Nettle Fabric Sample Pack – Handwoven & Naturally Dyed Textiles

Looking to explore our nettle fabrics before committing to a full length? This curated sample pack offers an affordable and convenient way to experience the unique textures, weaves, and colours of our plant-based cloths.

Each 10 x 10cm swatch is mounted on sturdy card with fabric specifications and pricing clearly listed — ideal for comparing tones and planning your next project.

Included in this sample pack:

• Allo – Handwoven Himalayan Nettle
• Faneel – Handwoven Himalayan Nettle (Straight Weave)
• Luna – Cotton & Nettle Herringbone Weave
• European Nettle Jersey – Knitted with European Sting nettle 
• Indigo-Dyed Faneel – Naturally dyed in-house using our plant-based indigo mineral vat

🌿 All fabrics are wild-harvested or naturally derived, with handspun and handwoven elements where noted.

🧵 Expect beautiful natural variation in tone and weave — each sample reflects the character of the full cloth.

📦 All samples will be packed together unless otherwise requested.

ALLO – Handwoven Himalayan Nettle Fabric
Origin: Nepal | Weave: Herringbone | Width: Approx. 65cm

Please note, this is Himalayan nettle (Girardinia diversifolia), not European nettle.

Orders of more than one piece will be cut in one continuous length unless directed otherwise.

The humble nettle—often dismissed for its sting—is a true natural treasure. It can be eaten, brewed as tea, used for dyeing, gardening, and, most notably, spun into fibre like flax.

ALLO differs from our FANEEL Nettle fabric with its herringbone weave rather than a straight pattern. Otherwise, they are identical.

The Company:

Made from wild-harvested Himalayan Nettles, this fabric is ethically produced in Nepal, supporting homemakers, women, and families with fair wages and home-based work opportunities.

The Fabric:

Once known as the "linen for the poor" in Europe, nettle fabric was widely used before being replaced by linen and cotton.

In Nepal, Himalayan nettles grow up to 3m tall and are still harvested by hand. The fibres are softened in a wood ash bath overnight, beaten on stone, and rubbed with clay to remove plant debris. Naturally coloured, each piece varies from straw yellow to grey-brown or dark brown. Every handwoven length is unique, offering an eco-friendly, durable textile that insulates body warmth, withstands boiling, and softens beautifully with wear.

In a Nutshell:

• 100% Himalayan nettle
• Hand-spun and handwoven
• Approx. 65cm wide
• Naturally varies in colour
• 40–60°C wash, 10% shrinkage
• Orders cut as one continuous length unless directed otherwise

Uses:

Perfect for making blazers, jackets, trousers, vests, winter clothing, children’s wear, cushions, tablecloths, curtains, bags, upholstery, and embroidery.

History:

Nettle yarn was once a staple fibre in Europe, rivaling flax and hemp. The 18th-century poet Thomas Campbell praised its versatility, from fine table linens to durable fabrics. Durable and sustainable, nettle remains a valuable natural fibre today.

Due to its handmade nature, availability is limited. Please contact us for larger quantities.

FANEEL – Handwoven Himalayan Nettle Fabric
Origin: Nepal | Weave: Straight | Width: Approx. 65cm

Please note, this is Himalayan nettle (Girardinia diversifolia), not European nettle.

Orders of more than one piece will be cut in one continuous length unless directed otherwise.

FANEEL differs from our ALLO Nettle fabric with its straight weave rather than a herringbone pattern. Otherwise, they are identical.

The Company:

Made from wild-harvested Himalayan Nettles, this fabric is ethically produced in Nepal, supporting homemakers, women, and families with fair wages and home-based work opportunities.

The Fabric:

Once known as the "linen for the poor" in Europe, nettle fabric was widely used before being replaced by linen and cotton.

In Nepal, Himalayan nettles grow up to 3m tall and are still harvested by hand. The fibres are softened in a wood ash bath overnight, beaten on stone, and rubbed with clay to remove plant debris. Naturally coloured, each piece varies from straw yellow to grey-brown or dark brown. Every handwoven length is unique, offering an eco-friendly, durable textile that insulates body warmth, withstands boiling, and softens beautifully with wear.

In a Nutshell:

• 100% Himalayan nettle
• Hand-spun and handwoven
• Approx. 65cm wide
• Naturally varies in colour
• 40–60°C wash, 10% shrinkage
• Orders cut as one continuous length unless directed otherwise

Uses:

Perfect for making blazers, jackets, trousers, vests, winter clothing, children’s wear, cushions, tablecloths, curtains, bags, upholstery, and embroidery.

History:

Nettle yarn was once a staple fibre in Europe, rivaling flax and hemp. The 18th-century poet Thomas Campbell praised its versatility, from fine table linens to durable fabrics. Durable and sustainable, nettle remains a valuable natural fibre today.

Due to its handmade nature, availability is limited. Please contact us for larger quantities.

FANEEL – Indigo-Dyed Handwoven Himalayan Nettle Fabric
Origin: Nepal | Weave: Straight | Width: Approx. 65cm

Orders of more than one piece will be cut in one continuous length (up to 5 metres) unless directed otherwise.
Each order comes with care instructions.

This edition of FANEEL has been dyed in-house at AppleOak FibreWorks in Co. Clare, Ireland, using our natural indigo mineral vat. Free from synthetic dyes and harsh chemicals, the colour is achieved through a slow, mindful process using plant-based indigo and small-batch dyeing techniques, creating a different kind of denim!

Our studio runs on a closed-loop, regenerative system. All water used in dyeing is collected via rainwater harvesting, and filtered through aquatic plants, gravel, and a final woodland filtration zone before returning to the environment. Worm composting is used to enrich the soil that grows our dye plants—closing the loop between land, water, and colour.

The Companies

AppleOak FibreWorks
Located in Co. Clare, Ireland, AppleOak FibreWorks is a natural dye and textile studio dedicated to ecological craft. We grow most of our dye plants, hand-dye textiles, yarns and clothing in small batches, and work with heritage fibres. Our production is low-impact, transparent, and rooted in place—driven by rain, soil, and slow process.

Our Weaving Partners
This fabric is handwoven in Nepal from wild-harvested Girardinia diversifolia (Himalayan nettle). The fibre is softened using traditional wood ash baths, beaten on stone, and spun by hand. The weaving supports fair wages and home-based work, particularly for women and rural families.

The Fabric

FANEEL has a straight weave and a structured feel. Naturally insulating and breathable, it softens beautifully with use. The hand-dyed indigo gives each piece subtle depth and variation.

In a Nutshell

• 100% Himalayan nettle
• Dyed in-house with natural indigo (mineral vat)
• Hand-spun and handwoven in Nepal
• Approx. 65cm wide
• Approx. 315 g/m²
• Natural variation in tone and weave
• 40–60°C wash with mild soap
• Approx. 10% shrinkage
• Maximum continuous length: 5 metres
• Comes with care instructions

Uses

Perfect for: jackets, vests, winter garments, trousers, artisan interiors, cushions, curtains, bags, and embroidery.

History

Nettle fibre, in this case European nettle, has a long and rich history in Europe, once rivaling flax and hemp. Thomas Campbell, an 18th-century poet, wrote:

“I have slept in nettle sheets, and I have dined off a nettle tablecloth... The stalks of the old nettle are as good as flax for making cloth.”

FANEEL carries this tradition forward—with deep indigo, fair weaving, and a soil-to-cloth philosophy.

DISCONTINUED

EHANI

And then there was the humble Nettle, so often despised for its sting. Nonetheless, it is a treasure. It can be used like Spinach, drank as a healing herbal tea, used for dyeing green and yellow, used in gardening as a pesticide and last but not least it creates fibre like Flax... 

EHANI is almost identical to HANFA, our Hemp Herringbone fabric. The combination of a denser, but light natural cotton warp woven with thin nettle yarn results in a strong defined herringbone weave, soft to the touch. Approx. 65cm wide. The nettle yarn used is handwoven and gives this fabric a unique character by an occasional unevenness. Due to the natural colour of the nettle yarn, the colour changes regularly (see pictures). Unlike HANFA, where the colour is continuous throughout. However, the natural white cotton yarn is evenly coloured and provides a resting, patterned, continuous herringbone weave throughout.

The Company:

NETTLE FABRIC ~ Made from Himalayan Nettles, wild harvested in Nepal. This fabric is ethically made in Nepal, by a company that is supporting homemakers, women and families to receive a decent income and to enable them to work from home, rather than finding employment abroad.

Nettle Fabric

In Europe, it used to be the linen for the poor. Cloisters and many other places devoted their time to the production of nettle yarn, nowadays pretty much forgotten and replaced by linen and cotton.

The Nepalian nettle, Girardinia diversifolia, grows up to 3m tall. There, the Nepalese still harvest and peel the nettle by hand, then it is placed in a semi boiling wood ash bath over night, which is used later for fertilizing the fields. The next day, the loosened fibers are beaten across a stone several times and rubbed with clay to loosen the remaining plant debris.

like most things in nature, this fabric has no one colour. The colour of one piece can vary from straw yellow to grey brown and even dark brown. Each length of fabric is a unique handwoven piece, in its truest, cleanest and most ecological form.

The fabric keeps and protects body warmth, can be boiled and becomes softer and more beautiful with time and wear.


In a nutshell:

50% Himalayan nettle 50% Cotton
Approx. 65cm wide
Hands pun nettle yarn and hand woven

Each piece is unique and can vary to the picture shown
Rinse in a light soap wash
40-60degree wash
Shrinkage 10%


Suitable for:

Heavier weight clothing, jackets, trousers, skirts 

Cushions, table cloth, curtains upholstery, bags and much more

Because this cloth is produced by hand and in small amounts there isn't an endless supply of cloth. Please contact me, if you would like bigger quantities.

History:

Nettle yarn was once used widely in Europe and was known as the 'Poor man's Linen'. Nettles once rivaled flax and hemp (and later, cotton) as a staple fiber for thread and yarn, used to make everything from heavy sailcloth to fine table linen up to the 17th/18th centuries. "In Scotland, I have eaten nettles," said the 18th century poet Thomas Campbell, "I have slept in nettle sheets, and I have dined off a nettle tablecloth. The young and tender nettle is an excellent potherb. The stalks of the old nettle are as good as flax for making cloth. I have heard my mother say that she thought nettle cloth more durable than any other linen."